ALBERT KAHN (1869-1942), who was one of America's leading industrial architect in the first half of the twentieth century, made a European tour as part of his architectural training. In 1890, at age twenty-one, he won a scholarship from the American Architect and Building News to study architectural monuments abroad. His sketchbook from Genoa, Rome, and Viterbo includes sensitive drawings of decorative brickwork, doorways to courtyards, and campanile that rise dramatically above the terracotta roofs. Kahn was eager to learn and apply the vocabulary of Italian vernacular architecture. "The one potent lesson to be deduced from the Renaissance," wrote Kahn, "is that of adaptation and appropriation."*
* Albert Kahn lecture notes, ca. 1900. Albert Kahn Papers, Archives of American Art, microfilm roll 1112, frame 537.
Albert Kahn Sketchbook, December 25, 1890-February 6, 1891, 5 x 7 in. "Tower on Lateran Museum/Rome 18.1.91," pencil on cream paper. Albert Kahn Papers, Archives of American Art.
Description of Albert Kahn's Papers |
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|---|---|
| CREATOR: | Kahn, Albert, 1869-1942. |
| TITLE: | Albert Kahn papers, 1888-1973. |
| PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: | ca. 6.0 linear ft. (on 5 microfilm reels). rolls 1110-1114 |
| BIO/HISTORICAL NOTE: | Architect, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. |
| SUMMARY: | REELS 1110-1114: Biographical information; business and personal correspondence, 1891-1950; many letters of condolence to his family at his death; an inventory of his library; 4 sketchbooks; a scrapbook of programs and invitations; bankbooks; a guestbook, 1929-1937; calling cards; address books; magazines, catalogs and other printed material; a photograph album, ca. 1920, with photos of travel in Spain and Italy; photographs, 1888-1960s, of Kahn, his family, including 2 of his wife Ernestine K. Kahn taken by Clara E. Sipprell, 1939, business associates, friends and his work, including Myron Barlow, Diego Rivera, Henry Ford and Arturo Toscanini, and the Ford Exposition Building at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. |
| UNMICROFILMED: | A scrapbook containing photos of unidentified interiors, clippings, pencil sketches, pencil and ink caricatures and blueprints; a photograph album of exterior and interior views of the Edsel Ford House, Grosse Point, Michigan; and a scrapbook containing letters and other material relating to Kahn's award from the AIA, 1942. |
| RESTRICTIONS: | Microfilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed material requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility. |
| PROVENANCE: | Gift of Lydia K. Malbin, Rosalie K. Butzel and Edgar A. Kahn, children of Albert Kahn, in October 1974. |
| ADDITIONAL FORMS: | 35mm microfilm rolls 1110-1114 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. |
