Dan Yellow Kuhne (b. 1942, Oneida, NY) is an American abstract painter from a cadre of artists who took up the legacy of the Washington Color School a decade after the original artists. Coming out of the University of Maryland, Kuhne was inspired by his predecessors and their exploration of color as form. Fittingly, it was around this time that Kuhne adopted the nickname �Dan Yellow,� after a friend referred to him as �Daniello,� and he liked how the moniker sounded like his favorite color.

Kuhne took classes from Gene Davis and exhibited around the DC area in the 1970s at venues like the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the University of Maryland. After a successful show at Jacob�s Ladder Gallery in 1972, the Phillips Collection hosted a solo show of his watercolors the following year.

The Phillips show curator, Richard Friedman, called Kuhne �the most talented newcomer� working in the tradition of the Washington Color School. The show met positive reviews in The Washington Post and The Evening Star and Daily News. The Post reviewer, Paul Richard, remarked that �[Kuhne�s watercolors] are full of subtle, carefully controlled color, and of local history as well,� particularly noting the influence of Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis. However, Richard remarked that Kuhne�s work was �freer� in contrast to the more rigid, hard-edge style of other Color School artists.

To create his work, Kuhne first draws out his imagery in pencil. He then applies paint directly from the tubes and dilutes the pigment with washes to stain the surface with color. The combination of �bars of pigment and attached flowing veils,� as described by Friedman, resulted in imaginative forms open to the viewer�s interpretation. Kuhne continued his signature style between 1970-74 with his notable Dog Eared series, comprising approximately 45 canvases. Starting around 2000, Kuhne has shifted his primary focus to landscape paintings. In an Art in America review of Kuhne�s paintings at Maryland Art Place, Joe Shannon described his work as �romantic expressionism,� citing the movement and variety of paint strokes, and their �Turneresque passion.�

Kuhne has exhibited for decades in solo and group shows in the DC area, recently in Full Circle: Hue and Saturation in the Washington Color School at the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery at the Corcoran School of Arts & Design in 2018. He taught for nearly 40 years as a professor of art at the Anne Arundel Community College.

Kuhne�s works are in the collections of The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; George Washington University Museum, Washington, DC; American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC; National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, MD; and the Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.

Kuhne was the 2022 recipient of the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County Annie Award for Visual Art.