Jonathan Ahn is a Korean-American painter born in Daegu, South Korea.
Jonathan Ahn at a glance
- Born: 1977 in Daegu, South Korea
- Nationality: Korean-American
- Medium: Oil painting
- Known for: San Francisco cityscapes and figure portraits
- Education: American University of Paris (art history and computer science); MFA from Academy of Art University (2010)
- Mentor: Nancy Angell-Rickenbacker
- Based in: San Francisco, California
“My grandmother knew how to do traditional Korean ink paintings, and she tried to teach me.”
Jonathan Ahn showed prodigious talent at age two when he drew cows he saw in a field, and his grandmother, a traditional Korean ink painter, recognized his gift and tried to teach him the fundamentals.
At age four, Jonathan Ahn was enrolled in a private art academy aimed at high-school-level students, where he quickly surpassed his older classmates and enjoyed the classes as a fun plaything.
Jonathan Ahn began studying painting privately under Nancy Angell-Rickenbacker at age seven, a former student of Pablo Picasso and Oskar Kokoschka, who had very high expectations and demanded exceptional work every time.
Jonathan Ahn moved to Paris in 1996 to study art history and computer science at the American University of Paris, but he stopped painting for two years after his mentor Nancy Angell-Rickenbacker suddenly died.
- Learned traditional Korean ink painting from his grandmother.
- Moved to Paris in 1996.
- Studied under a student of Picasso and Kokoschka.
- Took a two-year break from art after his mentor’s death.
- Copied masterworks by Géricault and Monet at the Louvre.
Jonathan Ahn eventually returned to painting, visiting Paris’s great museums and making personal copies of masterworks by Théodore Géricault and Claude Monet to brush up on his skills.
Jonathan Ahn’s life has always straddled Eastern and Western worlds, and his works express that duality, with his mentor’s lessons continuing to stick to him, just like the smell of the dark-roast coffee she always drank.