Jacob Kainen (1909-2001) was a painter, printmaker, and curator who worked primarily in Washington, D.C.
Born on December 7, 1909 in Waterbury, Connecticut, Jacob Kainen moved with his family to New York City in 1918. Kainen studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn from 1927 until 1930, and at the Art Student's League. In the early 1930s, Kainen became involved in social causes and formed close friendships with the early abstractionists, including John Graham, Arshile Gorky, and Stuart Davis. He joined the Artists' Union and a contributor to its journal,
From 1935 until 1942, Kainen worked for the Graphic Arts Division of the Works Progress Administration in New York City and began exhibiting with the New York School. It was during this period that he married Bertha Friedman. Jacob and Bertha had two sons together, Dan and Paul, and divorced in 1968.
In 1942, Kainen made a life-changing decision to leave New York City and move to Washington, D.C. to accept what he thought would be a temporary position as a scientific aide in the Division of Graphic Arts at the Smithsonian Institution. Kainen quickly became Assistant Curator and Curator in 1946. He served as Curator for twenty years, completely reshaping the department and building the graphic arts collection. His print exhibitions brought the work of S.W. Hayter, Josef Albers, Adja Yunkers, Louis Lozowick, Karl Schrag, José Guerrero, Louis Schanker, Werner Drewes, and Boris Margo to Washington audiences - graphic work that might not have been shown that early in the area.
1947 marked the opening of the Washington Workshop Center for the Arts, where Kainen served as a teacher and guide to several important artists, helping to make the workshop a magnet for new talent and instrumental in furthering the careers of several artists. Although Kainen taught Gene Davis and Alma Thomas and introduced Morris Louis to Leon Berkowitz, he never considered himself a member of the "Washington Color School."
In 1949, the Corcoran Gallery of Art held a retrospective of Kainen's prints and three years later Kenneth Noland organized Kainen's first painting retrospective at Catholic University. Kainen's paintings from the 1940s illustrated a shift away from social realism toward abstract expressionism. In 1956, Jacob Kainen received a grant from the American Philosophical society to conduct research in Europe for his monograph on the English woodcut artist, John Baptist Jackson. He traveled to Europe again in 1962 to study paintings and prints from the Mannerist Period.
From 1966 until 1970, Kainen worked as the Curator of prints and drawings at the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum). He married Ruth Cole in February of 1969. Kainen retired from the Smithsonian a year later to devote himself full-time to his art, but continued to serve as a special consultant to the Smithsonian American Art Museum for nineteen years. In 1971 and 1972, Kainen taught painting and the history of printmaking at the University of Maryland. A retrospective of Kainen's paintings was held in 1993 at the National Museum of American Art (SAAM).
Throughout his artistic career, Kainen experimented with different mediums and explored different styles, yet he identified himself as a painter. Jacob Kainen participated in at least twenty-five one man shows and several group exhibitions. His works are in collections across the United States and abroad, including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the British Museum. He worked in his studio up until the time of his death on March 19, 2001 at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The papers of painter, printmaker, and curator Jacob Kainen measure 33.3 linear feet and date from 1905 to 2009, with the bulk of the material from 1940-2001. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence/subject files including personal correspondence to and from friends and family members and professional correspondence and records concerning Kainen's activities as an artist, curator, teacher, and art collector. The collection also contains biographical material, writings, diary and journal entries, calendars, inventories, interview and "dialog" transcripts, printed material, photographs, works of art by other artists, and nine scrapbooks.
Biographical materials include items concerning Kainen's career as a curator and artist, in addition to a useful bibliography, detailed biographical outline, and a copy of an FBI report compiled on him. Also included are five videocassette recordings of Kainen.
Alphabetical correspondence/subject files comprise the bulk of the collection and include both Jacob's and Ruth's correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, artists, art critics, curators, museums, arts organizations, galleries, and many others. There is a significant amount of correspondence with David Acton, the Addison Gallery of Art and Jock Reynolds, William Agee, Australian National Gallery, Baltimore Museum of Art, Avis Berman, the British Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth Broun and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bryce Butler, Pheobe Cole, the Corcoran Gallery and School of Art, Richard Field, Ruth Fine, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Newton Frohlich, Gordon Gilkey and the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Arshile Gorky, Piri Halesz, Carol Harrison, Donald Holden, Wilhelmina Holladay, John Baptist Jackson, Jim Jordon, Lou Kantor, Harry Lunn Jr., Middendorf Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Peter Morse, Gerald Nordland, Francis O'Connor, Jerome Pollack, Richard Powell, Ann Purcell, Harry Rand, Martin Ries, Joseph Solman, Leo Steinberg, Prentiss Taylor, Victorino Tejera, Valerie Thornton, Joanne Weber, and numerous family members.
Writings are by and about Jacob Kainen. Kainen's writings include articles, lectures, exhibition catalog essays, notes, travel notebooks, short stories, poems, and written statements about his artistic motivations and justifications. There are writings about Kainen by Avis Berman, Ruth Cole Kainen, and others. The bulk of the numerous diary entries are from Ruth Cole Kainen's diaries, many of which concern Jacob and their family. There are also annotated and revised diary entries. There is one folder of diary entries and one folder of journal entries by Jacob Kainen and two dismantled journal-like notebooks. The papers include daily calendars and travel itineraries from 1972 through 2001.
The papers include transcripts of formal interviews and informal conversations with Jacob Kainen. Transcripts are of informal dinner, telephone, and general conversations between friends, colleagues, artists, and Ruth Cole Kainen. Included are conversations with Avis Berman, Walter Hopps, Harry Rand, Joshua Taylor, and several others. Many of these transcripts were also annnotated by Jacob and Ruth Kainen. Also found are numerous transcripts of more formal interviews with Kainen by art historians, art critics, and students.
There are inventories, appraisals, and lists of sold and not sold paintings, as well as color photographs of some of Kainen's works of art. Also found are inventories of the Kainens' art collection. Printed materials include Kainen's exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings of articles by and about Jacob Kainen, and an exhibition guestbook.
Photographs are of Kainen with his family and friends, at exhibition openings, and working in his studios. Works of art by others includes handmade greeting cards, limited edition prints, and portfolios given to Jacob Kainen. Nine scrapbooks containing news clippings and exhibition publications document the entirety of Kainen's career as an artist.
The Jacob Kainen papers are arranged into 11 series.
Found among the holdings of the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of Jacob Kainen conducted by Avis Berman in 1982 for the Archives' "Mark Rothko and His Times" oral history project. Also found are microfilm copies of Bertha Kainen's correspondence with Avis Berman regarding Berman's essay about Jacob Kainen.
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 565, 2147-2149, and 2200) including correspondence, writings by Kainen, and papers relating to the Smithsonian Institution Loyalty Board's investigation of Jacob Kainen from 1942-1954. Most, but not all, of the loaned materials were included in later gifts. Loaned materials not donated at a later date remain with the lender and are not described in the container listing of this finding aid.
Jacob and Ruth Kainen first lent the Archives of American Art material for microfilming from 1973-1981, the bulk of which was included in the later gifts. Papers were then donated in multiple accretions between 1981-2007 by Jacob and Ruth Kainen, and in 2009 from the estate of Ruth Kainen via executor Teresa Covacevich Grana. Also in 2003, eight photographs of Jacob and Ruth Kainen were transferred from the National Portrait Gallery to the Archives of American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the
Jacob Kainen papers, 1905-2008, bulk 1940-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection was processed by Rachel Edford in 2003 with funding provided by the Judith Rothschild Foundation. Later additions were processed and merged with the collection and the finding aid was updated by Erin Kinhart in 2015-2016 and in 2018 by Ryan Evans.
Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 565, 2147-2149, 2200 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Biographical material includes applications, position descriptions, résumés, and a copy of the FBI report compiled on Kainen. Also contained are birth certificates, passports, biographical outlines, bibliographies, and lists of works by Jacob Kainen. A few personal business records such as artwork sales and art supply invoices are also found here. Additionally there is video footage of Kainen, primarily working in his studio, found on five videocassettes.
The correspondence files and subject files were combined into one series as in the original arrangement by the Kainen's. In most cases, the correspondence was originally arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's name, but there were a few files included in the original series that were filed by subject and contained correspondence relating to a specific topic or event. Correspondents with fewer than five letters are filed alphabetically in miscellaneous folders.
Found here is Kainen's personal and professional correspondence to and from family members, friends, scholars, artists, curators, and students. There is a significant amount of material dealing with exhibitions, donations, gifts, and appraisals of items from Kainen's art collection. Some notable correspondents include Clement Greenberg, Stuart Davis, and S.W. Hayter. A substantial amount of correspondence was written and received exclusively by Ruth Cole Kainen. The series contains some photographs, printed material, and handmade cards. Also found are two videocassettes documenting an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, one videocassette documentary about artist Martin Reis, and one sound cassette regarding artist George McNeil.
Pace, Stephen and Pamela
Solman, Joseph
The series contains writings by and about Jacob Kainen. Writings by Jacob Kainen include articles, essays, introductions to exhibition catalogs, lectures, statements, short stories as well as lists, notes, and rough drafts of speeches and essays. Also included are lectures given by Jacob Kainen. Writings by others include essays, a thesis and dissertation about Jacob Kainen, and extensive writings by Ruth Cole Kainen.
The series has been divided into 2 subseries:
Writings by Jacob Kainen include essays about Arshile Gorky, Raphael Soyer, John Dowell, and the Works Progress Administration. Mainstream art, New York in the 1930s, and art in the 1930s are topics addressed in the lectures included in this series. Also found is poetry written by Jacob Kainen as well as several of his pocket notebooks and travel notebooks.
The subseries contains writings about Jacob Kainen's painting, the Graphic Arts Division of the Works Progress Administration, the Smithsonian Institution's Division of Graphic Arts, and Jacob Kainen's art collection. Also found are extensive writings by Ruth Cole Kainen about her husband and about their art collection.
The series includes more informal writings by Jacob Kainen: diary entries, journal entries, and two dismantled journal notebooks. Ruth Cole Kainen's extensive diary entries about Jacob Kainen and their life, which consist of fragments and complete entries, are also included in this series. A large portion of Mrs. Kainen's diary entries deal with Jacob Kainen's two sons and with his retrospectives. Ruth Kainen edited, annotated, and revised her diary entries, so draft fragments, notes, and revised versions are included.
A second subseries of diary entries are entirely by Ruth Cole Kainen, and cross-filed according to topics and people, arranged alphabetically.
Found here are daily calendars, calendar pages, typed schedules, and itineraries from Jacob and Ruth's various trips abroad. Many of the calendars are incomplete with certain months missing. The daily calendars also contain notes and lists relating to the events planned on specific days. Also found are Appointment books kept by both Jacob Kainen and Ruth Cole Kainen.
Transcripts of formal interviews, informal dialogues, discussions, and conversations are included in the series. The transcripts cover topics concerning Jacob's biography, his artwork, and art history in general. Many transcripts include explanatory notes and introductions written by Ruth Cole Kainen. Some of the transcripts are incomplete with missing pages. In other cases, there are different versions of the same conversations.
This series is divided into 2 subseries:
Found here are transcriptions of informal dinner conversations, telephone conversations, discussions, and dialogues between Jacob Kainen and others. The transcripts filed under Ruth Cole Kainen are conversations strictly between herself and Jacob Kainen and comprise the bulk of the subseries. However, many of the conversations with the other participants include comments from both Jacob and Ruth Kainen.
The subseries includes transcripts of formal interviews with Jacob Kainen concerning such topics as Mark Rothko, Alma Thomas, American Printmaking, and Washington art. As with the previous subseries, the transcripts include comments from Ruth Cole Kainen in addition to those by Jacob Kainen.
Found here are general and specific inventories of paintings by Jacob Kainen, many with accompanying color photographs. There are also inventories and appraisals of the Kainens' art collection.
The series includes Kainen's exhibition catalogs and announcements in addition to newspaper, magazine, and journal clippings of articles by and about Jacob Kainen. Also found are a few newsletters, journals, programs, and pamphlets of interest to Kainen.
Oversized material housed in OV 31.
Photographs depict Jacob Kainen with family members and friends, at exhibition openings, teaching, and working in his studios. Also found are photographs of Kainen with fellow students at Pratt Institute, exhibition installations, and photographs of Kainen's artwork. Included are color snapshots, black and white prints, and a few slides and negatives. Many of the photographs were taken by Ruth Cole Kainen. Photograph albums were dismantled and the photographs within them were arranged in their original order.
Oversized material housed in OV 31.
Oversized material housed in OV 31.
The series consists primarily of handmade greeting cards and limited edition prints given to Jacob and Ruth Kainen. The cards contain lithographs, etchings, pen and ink drawings, and woodblock prints by various artists such as Tadeusz Lapinski, Un-ichi Hiratsuka, and Raphael Soyer. Alberta Mayo's portfolio, entitled "Remembering Paradise: Postcards from Southern California," is also part of the series. The series contains a variety of materials given to Kainen by the artist, Irving Amen. The series is arranged alphabetically by the artist's last name and chronologically under each heading. Artists with fewer than five items are filed alphabetically in miscellaneous folders. The material by Irving Amen is organized further by the type of material (i.e. by works of art, photographs, and printed material) and then chronologically.
See Appendix for a list of miscellaneous artists from Series 10.
Oversized material housed in OV 31.
Oversized material housed in OV 31.
Oversized material housed in OV 31.
Oversized material housed in OV 31.
Nine scrapbooks found here include news clippings, exhibition press releases, announcements, and catalogs. Scrapbooks document the entirety of Kainen's career as an artist and are especially comprehensive of his later years.