Artwork copyright Judith Hahn. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

Wenatchee River I, 1993

Judith Hahn
(American, born 1941, died 1999)

Location: Curlew High and Elementary School, Curlew

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Wenatchee River I by late artist Judith Hahn is painted with a broad and vibrant palette of colors, giving it an impressionistic style. This painting allows the viewer to explore the abstract forms and colors that comprise the natural landscape of trees and riverbank in Central Washington.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Curlew School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Painter and printmaker Judith Hahn (1941-1999) was interested in color and light, as seen in nature.
Hahn lived and worked in Woodinville, Western Washington. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1981 at age forty, her artistic process and style evolved to accommodate her physical limitations. Using a wheelchair limited her range of motion and the size of the artworks that she could create. As a result, she started created diptychs, or two-panel artworks, where she could combine two panels to make one larger artwork. She noted, "Because my disability severely limits my mobility, I work (in studio) from photographs we take in the field, although I often use only part of a photographic image, or combine several."
Hahn earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University. During the 1990s, several of her artworks were donated to support the Multiple Sclerosis Society.