Albert Zahn
Untitled Totem
c. 1945
29 x 17 x 9 inches
Carved wood, painted and varnished
AZ 121
Albert Zahn
Untitled, Angel
14 x 19 inches
Varnished carved wood
AZ 120
Albert Zahn
Hessian Soldier
c. 1950
Painted carved wood
14.5 x 4 x 4 inches
AZ 97
Untitled
Hessian Angel Carving
c. 1940-50
Polychromed, Carved Wood
341/2 x 291/2 x 6 inches
AZ 50
Albert Zahn
Installation
ALBERT ZAHN, WI
1864–1953
Wisconsin’s Door County peninsula is a bird’s paradise, as it was for Albert Zahn (1864-1953), an artist so taken with these heavenly creatures that he transformed his home and yard into “Birds Park,” an art environment defined by hundreds of carved and painted bird forms. After passing down his farm to a son, Albert built his small retirement home from cast concrete in Baileys Harbor. Between 1924-1950, Zahn became a prolific carver. He covered the house and property with hand-carved cedarwood birds, angels, woodsmen, sailors, ships, and woodland creatures.
The art that once covered Birds Park dissipated as tourists purchased items from the façade and yard during the last years of the artist’s life. Following Zahn’s death, the property fell into a decline. Although much of the art that once covered Birds Park was removed from the house over the years, current owners Robert McCullough and Karen Tosi have spent years lovingly restoring Zahn’s handmade house and collecting the works of art that once adorned it. McCullough and Tosi have generously promised Birds Park and the largest private collection of Zahn’s carvings to the Arts Center. Today, the Arts Center is the largest public repository of Zahn’s work.