Biographies
Oscar Cahén was a born in Copenhagen, Denmark in the year 1916 and only later moved to Canada to continue to pursue his career as a professional artist.
Before moving to Canada he studied design, illustration and painting in Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia. He completed a Masters Degree in Fine Art from Kunstakadame in Dresden and then took on a teaching position as an instructor of design and illustration at the Rotter School in Prague.
Forced out of pre-war Germany due to Anti-Nazi activities, Cahén came to Canada and started freelancing for The Standard and The National Film Board. He was appointed the Art Director of Magazine Digest and then moved to Toronto in 1943 just as his work was achieving critical acclaim. Oscar Cahén officially became a Canadian citizen in 1946. Tragically he was killed in a motor vehicle accident in Oakville, Ontario.
Oscar Cahén, P11,
1968, Acrylic on canvas
Image Source: www.oscarcahen.com
Excerpt from Harold Town,
The Oscar Cahén Memorial Exhibition, 1958/59, Art Gallery of Toronto
“Accident brought Oscar Cahén to the creative life of this country, and accident, tragic and terrible, took him from that life. It was in no way accidental, however, that his work in graphic art started a revolution that is still gathering force, and has, with C.W. Jefferies, made Cahén one of the two most important figures in creative illustration in the history of Canada.”