Max Kuehne 

(1880-1968) 

I was driving south on Rt. 128 with my good friend and artist, Tom Nicholas, heading toward the Peabody Museum and the Marine Arts Gallery in Salem, Massachusetts. Talking art with Tom and visiting a museum and gallery has always been an enjoyable experience. I brought up the subject of Max Kuehne and a show and catalogue of his work currently at Hirschl & Adler in New York. I had pointed out the rather unique spelling of his name. While we were visiting the Marine Arts Gallery, a group of newly arrived paintings from a nearby estate was being off-loaded from a van and stacked along the walls. I crouched before a large New York City scene in winter while my friend was leaning over my shoulder examining it as well. I saw the signature and glanced up at Tom quietly “mouthing” the artist’s name. Some impulse in my head kicked in at that moment and instead of showing how smart I was, I simply asked the dealer who painted this picture. A very long pause ensued, during which I could see a response being formulated in his mind. Finally with great insight, I was informed that a famous Polish artist named Max Kupne came to America briefly and painted a small series of “brilliant” New York scenes. Wow! How much does a Polish painting of New York cost? Short pause… $750. That’s nice. I paid him, and we left… quickly.