Art Kane

Art Kane (April 9, 1925 – February 3, 1995), born Arthur Kanofsky in New York City, was a fashion and music photographer active from the 1950s through early 1990s. He created many portraits of musicians, including Bob Dylan, The Who and the Rolling Stones.

During World War Two he served in an unusual deception unit known as The Ghost Army that was an incubator for many young artists. He became, at age 26, the art director for Seventeen Magazine, one of the youngest art directors of a major publication. He began to explore his passion for photography, eventually studying under the legendary Alexey Brodovitch. In 1958, he got an assignment that would launch his career as a photographer. He managed to assemble 57 legendary jazz musicians, for Esquire magazine in 1958 in Harlem. Eventually this photograph would became the basis for a documentary, A Great Day in Harlem.

Art Kane is credited in the book Stainless Steel Illusion for the photograph of John DeLorean with the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car that was the basis for the only magazine advertisement ever created by DeLorean Motor Company.

The Art Kane Photo Workshops were created in 1989, in Cape May New Jersey. They were week-long workshops with notable photographers.

Kane died in 1995, aged 69 after committing suicide. He is survived by at least one known son, Nicholas Kane. Another son, Jonathan Kane, is the former drummer of Swans and played with Rhys Chatham.

External links

• Art Kane estate homepage
• Great Day in Harlem website
• Official Great Day In Harlem film website
• Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work