Working within a predominantly abstractionist context, a group of younger artists forged a mode of representational art in the 1950s and 1960s that made use of Abstract Expressionist painterly freedom and spontaneity in order to document the life around them. However, subject matter, including human figures, was recognizable, which was much against the grain of most of their peers.

Wolf Kahn, one of the leaders of this group and a native of Stuttgart, Germany, directed this approach toward the painting of the landscape, which he has steadfastly developed over a period of forty years. With studios in New York and Vermont, he has been a colorist who uses simplified geometric designs and contrasting, carefully balanced colors. He has a fascination with barns that date to 1966 when he did a work titled "First Barn Painting." He returned to this subject throughout the 70s and 80s. In 1999, a major exhibition of his work was held at the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta Georgia.

Today Kahn's use of color has placed him at the forefront of American representational Art, and has made him one of the most highly regarded colorists working in America today. He has received Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships, and an Award in Art from the American Academy and Institute for Arts and Letters.