Kenneth Callahan was born in Spokane, Washington and is considered a noted 20th century artist. Largely self-taught, he travelled extensively through Europe, Latin America, and the United States. He was known for his abstractions based on natural forms of the Northwest region, often basing his designs on cross-sections of local stones and other formations. He made Seattle his home in 1929.

Callahan was the Curator Painting at the Seattle Art Museum from 1933-53. He was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1954. His works are featured in many significant private, corporate, and museum collections throughout America including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, MoMA, Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art.