BRUCE CAHN | Woodstock Work

About

(Saugerties, NY)—Opus 40 presents works on paper and sculptures by the late Woodstock artist Bruce Cahn (1942 - 2020). Cahn's work is known not only for his accomplished techniques but also for its powerful symbolic imagery. These artworks range from abstract mandalas that boldly chart a spiritual journey to hand-carved, figurative sculptures influenced by his teacher and mentor, Harvey Fite, the artist who created Opus 40.

About Bruce Cahn:
Born in the Bronx, Bruce Cahn led an eccentric, artistic life driven by an all-consuming desire to absorb himself into an ongoing creative process. The son of a prominent New York City caterer, Cahn spent his childhood comfortable but socially disinterested, preferring to spend time sculpting and drawing. After graduating from Horace Mann High School, Cahn studied with sculptor Harvey Fite at Bard College and José Mariano de Creeft at the Arts Students League in New York City. Bruce Cahn worked obsessively in his small apartment/studio and, later, in his Woodstock, New York cottage. Apart from a solo exhibit at the Horace Mann Fisher Gallery, Bruce Cahn declined to exhibit his artworks during his lifetime to avoid being distracted from his intensive art practice. In 2024, Bruce had his first post-humous international solo exhibition at Castello 925 in Venice, Italy, and this solo show at Opus 40 is his first in his adopted hometown.

About OPUS 40:
Created by pioneering artist and Bard professor Harvey Fite and founded as a nonprofit by his wife, Barbara, in 1978, Opus 40 is a world-famous artistic environment with 63 acres of meadows, forested paths, and bluestone quarries — centering on 6.5 acres of remarkable earthwork sculpture and a handmade artist’s studio and home, also created by Fite — in the heart of the Hudson Valley in Saugerties, NY.