In Memoriam

"The most difficult problem for an artist, granted technical competence, is to know how to be himself."—Jacob Kainen

On his birth date, we honor recently deceased Jacob Kainen, an artist who worked as a curator for our museum!

Jacob Kainen (b. 1909, Waterbury, Connecticut) moved to New York at a young age, studied at the Art Student's League and graduated from the Pratt Institute. Associating with fellow New York school artists Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko, Kainen worked with a wide range of subjects using various styles and media.

After a stint as a WPA artist during the 1930s, Mr. Kainen came to Washington, D.C., where he served for 20 years as curator of the Smithsonian Institution's graphic arts division, and six years as curator of prints and drawings, National Collection of Fine Arts [now the Smithsonian American Art Museum]. Under his guidance the holdings increased from 1,000 to 7,000 works of extraordinary art. He was a pioneer of color lithography, a leader of the Washington Color School, and promoted artists Morris Louis and Gene Davis.

The Smithsonian Associates commissioned Bright Surround in 1989, in the artist's 80th year. This abstract, mixed media work is an example of how an artist can customize each print edition. The artist executed the lithographic portion in five colors with David Adamson and Jack Brumbaugh; he then applied three additional colors by woodcut in his own studio and finished with some hand coloring. The colors give off a subtle throb and pulse with enveloping rhythms, reflecting the feeling Mr. Kainen has for the grand moods of nature.

Source: The Smithsonian Associates web site at http://residentassociates.org/artwork/kainen-work.htm.

Pictured: Jacob Kainen, 1909–2001, Bright Surround, 1989, color lithograph, woodcut and hand coloring on paper, 35 1/4 x 25 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Smithsonian Resident Associates Program.