Paul Hahn, Toronto
By descent to the current Private Collection, Toronto
One of seventeen children, Paul Hahn immigrated to Canada from Stuttgart, Germany in 1888. A gifted musician, Hahn was recognized as a renowned cellist, extensively touring Ontario and New York state. Working for the Nordheimer Piano Company for nearly twenty years, Hahn fulfilled a dream and opened his own piano company on September 13, 1913. Paul Hahn and Company has served Toronto families for more than a century, with the third generation of the family currently owning and operating the Yonge Street fixture, providing sales and restoration of pianos to the community.
Paul Hahn was an active and tireless supporter of culture in Toronto, providing encouragement directly to family and friends in the arts. Hahn financed the education of his brother, celebrated Canadian artist Emanuel Hahn, allowing him to study in Germany and further his abilities as a sculptor and designer. Paul Hahn was a recognized authority on extinct and vanishing birds, researching, writing and hosting lectures on the subject. Celebrated as a patron of the Royal Ontario Museum, Hahn donated sixty-eight passenger pigeon specimens as well as his extensive stamp collection to the institution.
A patron of various arts groups and associations, Paul Hahn was a resident member of the Arts and Letters Club, along with his brothers Emanuel and Gustav, and members of the Group of Seven, including Lawren Harris. Actively purchasing artwork from Toronto artists, it is believed that Hahn acquired “Shacks” directly from Harris, the painting descending through the Hahn family since its purchase almost a century ago.
