Oral history interview with Jacob Kainen
name: label: Interviewee
content: Kainen, Jacob
label: Interviewer
content: Berman, Avis
label: Creator
content: Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project
label: Names
content: ACA Galleries
label: Names
content: Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project
label: Names
content: Pratt Institute
label: Names
content: Davis, Gene, 1920-1985
label: Names
content: Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997
label: Names
content: Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948
label: Names
content: Graham, John, 1887-1961
label: Names
content: Hayter, Stanley William, 1901-1988
label: Names
content: Lazzari, Pietro, 1898-1979
label: Names
content: Margo, Boris, 1902-1995
label: Names
content: McNeil, George, 1908-1995
label: Names
content: Noland, Kenneth, 1924-2010
label: Names
content: Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967
label: Names
content: Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970
label: Names
content: Schnitzler, Max, 1903-
label: Names
content: Solman, Joseph, 1909-2008
label: Names
content: Thomas, Alma (1891-1978)
title: label: Topic
content: Art front
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Federal aid to the arts
label: Topic
content: Printmakers -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview was conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and his Times oral history project, with funding provided by the Mark Rothko Foundation.
label: Provenance
content: Others interviewed on the project (by various interviewers) include: Sonia Allen, Sally Avery, Ben-Zion, Bernard Braddon, Ernest Briggs, Rhys Caparn, Elaine de Kooning, Herbert Ferber, Esther Gottlieb, Juliette Hays, Sidney Janis, Buffie Johnson, Louis Kaufman, Jack Kufeld, Katharine Kuh, Stanley Kunitz, Joseph Liss, Dorothy Miller, Betty Parsons, Wallace Putnam, Rebecca Reis, Maurice Roth, Sidney Schectman, Aaron Siskind, Joseph Solman, Hedda Sterne, Jack Tworkov, Esteban Vicente and Ed Weinstein. Each has been cataloged separately.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Kainen, Jacob
label: Interviewer
content: Berman, Avis
label: Creator
content: Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Jacob Kainen (1909-2001) was a painter, printmaker, and curator from Washington, D.C. Studied at the Art Students League and Pratt Institute; died at age 91.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6 Cassettes (Sound recording, analog.)
label: Extent
content: 108 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1982 Aug. 10-Sept. 22
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.kainen82
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Cassettes
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available on line.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Jacob Kainen conducted 1982 Aug. 10-1982 Sept. 22, by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and His Times oral history project.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Kainen speaks about his family and educational background; early interest in art; his studies at the Art Students League and Pratt Institute; showing at the ACA Gallery; the community of artists in New York in the late 1930s; writing for ART FRONT; his employment by the graphic arts division of the WPA-FAP in New York; his move to Washington, D.C., in 1942, to work for the Smithsonian Institution; his first marriage to Bertha Friedman and their children; his career in Washinton, D.C. as a curator, painter, printmaker, writer, and teacher; the FBI investigation of his background; and the art scene in Washington, D.C. Kainen also recalls artists he has known including Stuart Davis, Joseph Solman, John Graham, Mark Rothko, Pietro Lazzari, Willem de Kooning, Max Schnitzler, Arshile Gorky, Gene Davis, Alma Thomas, George McNeil, Kenneth Noland, Boris Margo, Stanley Hayter, and Ad Reinhardt. He discusses Mark Rothko's influences, how he "hated the art industry" and was secretive about his art materials. Kainen also recalls encountering Rothko in Provincetown in 1968 and comments on his art and his suicide. Jacob Kainen's wife, Ruth, was also present and contributed her recollections.