Gabriele Hahn

Gabriele Hahn was born in Chemnitz, Germany and lives in Switzerland.

She studied law in Germany and France, followed by a training in History of Art at the Tate Gallery, London. She became an art docent and lecturer with emphasis on British and international contemporary art. Gabriele Hahn moved to California with her husband Nicolas L.A. Hahn, where she served as a trustee of the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey Symphony and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. In the meantime, she developed an art appreciation program that brings art into the class rooms.

In the year of 1989-1993 Gaby took art classes at the Monterey Peninsula College in all mediums, especially life drawing.

In 1997 the Hahn family acquired a 50,000 acre game farm in Laikipia, Kenya, and built Mugie Ranch, focusing on the conservation of wild animals. She became fascinated by the local traditions, aesthetics of the tribes and the wildlife. During every visit she sketches and photographs what she experiences and then develops her paintings from these sources. Working in natural light, the artist creates images that feel at once casual and rigorously composed. Gaby Hahn says she wants to show her subjects’ deep connection with nature and her compositions emphasize that harmony. Her preferred mediums are oil, acrylic, charcoal and pastel.

Gaby Hahn paints East African tribal people of Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia, people who live along the Omo River and Lake Turkana and in the dry lands of the Laikipia Plateau. The Omo River people, among them the Karo, Hamer, Ari and Mursi people became the focus for four years in her “Omo River” series. During this time, she became aware of the development of the Gibe dams, built to increase electricity in the area that affected the ecosystems and livelihoods for more than 500,000 people. Gaby’s purpose in painting changed to reflect a mission of preservation of this rich culture under threat.

In her ongoing “Burdens” series she captures and honors women performing their tiring daily tasks. Their bodies are accented by paint, jewelry and ornamental textiles which she considers as an important and disappearing art form with similarities to conceptual art of the modern era. The bright colors of their clothing make them stand out from their backgrounds and show them as creative people in their own right. She paints these women with compassion and affection.

Their burden is a metaphor: it tells of a life spent in drudgery and often subjugation.

Since 2014 Gaby Hahn spends part of the year in the Bahamas. A new source of inspiration emerged. 

All proceeds of Gaby Hahn’s artwork sales benefit the Seahorse Institute for autistic children in the Bahamas.

Exhibitions

• The TERN Gallery, Mahogany Hill, Western Road, Nassau, The Bahamas, 2022

• “New work”, Hahn Estates Winery, Santa Lucia Highlands, Soledad, California, 2014

• “African Portraits”, group show, Agora Gallery, New York, 2013

• “Endangered Cultures – people of Lake Turkana and Omo River”, Nairobi National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya, 2011

• “Vanishing cultures in Ethiopia and Kenya”, Rutgers University, Solo show, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2011

• Hahn Estates Winery, permanent exhibits, Santa Lucia Highlands, Soledas, California, from 2010

• “The Omo Tribe Paintings”, Pacific Grove Art Center, Solo Show, Pacific Grove, California, 2010

• “Impressionen aus Afrika”, Kronengalerie, Zurich, Switzerland, 2009

• „The Art of Gaby Hahn”, Huntington Wine Cellars and Art Gallery, Solo Show, Healdsburg, California, 2008

• “A Vanishing World – Paintings by Gaby Hahn”, Pacific Grove Art Center, Solo Show, Pacific Grove, California, 2006

• Gardiner’ Resort, Carmel Valley, California, 2006

• Monterey Museum, Miniature Show, Monterey, California, 2004

• Nairobi National Museum, Group Show, Nairobi, Kenya, 2003

• Monterey Museum of Art, Miniature Show, Monterey, California, 2003

• National Museum of Kenya, Group Show, Nairobi, Kenya, 2002