Suzanne Kohn Gallery: Three Decades of Twin Cities Art

The Suzanne Kohn Gallery showed Minnesota and Upper Midwest artists in St. Paul and Minneapolis for more than 30 years. Here is its history, the artists it showed, and what its label means for your piece.

SebastianCharles Auctions

If a painting or print in your family came with a label from the Suzanne Kohn Gallery, it was bought from one of the longest running art galleries in the Twin Cities. Suzanne Kohn showed Minnesota and Upper Midwest artists for more than 30 years, in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Here is what we know about the gallery, the artists it showed, and what its label means for the piece you own.

Three decades of Twin Cities art

The gallery's history lives mostly in the résumés of the artists who showed there. Pieced together, they show a gallery that ran from at least the early 1960s into the mid 1990s.

• Painter Virginia Randolph Bueide lists Suzanne Kohn Gallery shows in St. Paul as early as 1963 and 1964, and a solo show there in 1976.
• Printmaker Marko Spalatin was in a group show of Wisconsin printmakers at the gallery in 1970 and had a solo show in St. Paul in 1971. He even made a 1971 screenprint titled Suzanne Kohn Gallery.
• In the mid 1970s the gallery showed Victor Bloomfield's photographs of more than 70 Minnesota artists.
• Mary Griep had solo shows there in 1980 and 1982.
• Tom Maakestad had eight solo shows at the gallery between 1984 and 1994.
• Liedeke Bulder and Bueide were both in group shows there in 1995.

Some of those listings put the gallery in St. Paul and some in Minneapolis, so it likely moved or ran in both cities over the years.

An influential part of the scene

In 2013 the Minnesota Museum of American Art mounted Studio Sessions: Minnesota Arts in the 1970s. The show paired Bloomfield's portraits of local artists with their work and included his portrait of Suzanne Kohn herself. The Star Tribune called her gallery "an influential part of the scene."

That is the gallery's real legacy. Dayton's Gallery 12 and the Locksley Shea Gallery brought New York names to Minneapolis. Suzanne Kohn focused on artists who lived and worked here.

The artists you might find

A Suzanne Kohn label usually points to a regional artist. A few names that turn up on the gallery's exhibition lists:

• Marko Spalatin, a Zagreb born printmaker trained at the University of Wisconsin, known for crisp geometric screenprints. His work is in the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
• Tom Maakestad, who had eight solo shows there.
• Mary Griep, who showed there in the early 1980s.
• Virginia Randolph Bueide, a painter who showed with the gallery for three decades.
• Liedeke Bulder, in the gallery's 1995 group show.

What the label means for value

A Suzanne Kohn label tells you the piece was bought from a respected Twin Cities gallery, usually from or near the time the artist made it. That makes it a good piece of history, and it helps confirm the work is what it says it is.

The price still comes from the artist, the medium, the size and the condition. Regional artists have loyal local collectors, and an original painting will almost always bring more than a print by the same hand. For example, a New York dealer priced a signed Spalatin screenprint at $350. A strong original by a well known Minnesota painter can bring much more.

What to check on your piece

Read the label

A gallery label can name the artist and the title. Write down everything on it and keep the label with the work. If you reframe, ask the framer to save it.

Look for a signature and edition number

A signed and numbered print carries a pencil signature and a number like 12/50 in the margin. An original painting or drawing will have no edition number. Knowing which you have is the first step to a fair value.

Keep the paperwork

Receipts, exhibition cards and letters from the gallery all help tell the story. Keep them in a folder with the piece.

Other Twin Cities galleries

Suzanne Kohn worked alongside two other galleries that shaped Minnesota collecting. Read our posts on Dayton's Gallery 12 and the Locksley Shea Gallery, and on the Walker Art Center's impact on Minnesota art.

Selling a piece from Suzanne Kohn Gallery

If you have a work with a Suzanne Kohn Gallery label, send us photos of the front, the back with the label, and any signature. Sebastian personally reviews every inquiry. Our paintings and prints departments handle Minnesota art, and you can request an estimate here.