Jacob Kainen papers
name: label: Creator
content: Kainen, Jacob
label: Creator
content: Kainen, Ruth Cole (1922-2009)
label: Names
content: Addison Gallery of American Art
label: Names
content: Australian National Gallery
label: Names
content: Baltimore Museum of Art
label: Names
content: British Museum
label: Names
content: Brooklyn Museum
label: Names
content: Corcoran Gallery of Art
label: Names
content: Corcoran School of Art (Washington, D.C.)
label: Names
content: Middendorf Gallery
label: Names
content: National Gallery of Art (U.S.)
label: Names
content: Smithsonian American Art Museum
label: Names
content: Acton, David, 1953-
label: Names
content: Agee, William C.
label: Names
content: Berman, Avis
label: Names
content: Broun, Elizabeth
label: Names
content: Butler, Bryce
label: Names
content: Cole, Phoebe
label: Names
content: Fine, Ruth, 1941-
label: Names
content: Frohlich, Newton, 1936-
label: Names
content: Gilkey, Gordon
label: Names
content: Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948
label: Names
content: Halasz, Piri
label: Names
content: Harrison, Carol
label: Names
content: Holden, Donald
label: Names
content: Holladay, Wilhelmina Cole, 1922-
label: Names
content: Hopps, Walter
label: Names
content: Jackson, John Baptist, 1701-1780?
label: Names
content: Jordon, Jim
label: Names
content: Kalonyme, Louis
label: Names
content: Lunn, Harry, 1933-1998
label: Names
content: Morse, Peter
label: Names
content: Nordland, Gerald
label: Names
content: O'Connor, Francis V.
label: Names
content: Pollack, Jerome
label: Names
content: Powell, Richard J., 1953-
label: Names
content: Purcell, Ann
label: Names
content: Rand, Harry
label: Names
content: Reynolds, Jock
label: Names
content: Ries, Martin, 1926-
label: Names
content: Solman, Joseph, 1909-2008
label: Names
content: Steinberg, Leo
label: Names
content: Taylor, Joshua Charles, 1917-
label: Names
content: Taylor, Prentiss, 1907-1991
label: Names
content: Tejera, V. ((Victorino))
label: Names
content: Thornton, Valerie
label: Names
content: Weber, Joanne
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Occupation
content: Curators -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Painting, Modern -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Painting, Abstract -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Artists' studios -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Printmakers -- Washington (D.C.)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kainen, Jacob
label: Creator
content: Kainen, Ruth Cole (1922-2009)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Jacob Kainen papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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, diaries, calendars, inventories, interview transcripts, printed material, photographs, works of art by other artists, and nine scrapbooks.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: 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, Art Front, along with Stuart Davis and Harold Rosenberg. Jacob's participation in the Artists' Union was later investigated by the FBI.

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.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 33.3 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1905-2009
label: Date
content: bulk 1940-2001
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.kainjaco
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Transcripts
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Visitors' books
label: Type
content: Lectures
label: Type
content: Prints
label: Type
content: Greeting cards
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The Jacob Kainen papers are arranged into 11 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1938-2001 (Boxes 1, 32; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence/Subject Files, 1936-2003 (Boxes 1-12, 32-33; 11.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1920s-2002 (Boxes 12-13, 33; 1.6 linear feet)

Series 4: Diaries, circa 1952-2002 (Boxes 13-18, 33-38; 10.0 linear feet)

Series 5: Calendars, 1953-2008 (Boxes 18-20, 38; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 6: Transcripts, circa 1975-1994 (Boxes 20-21, 38; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 7: Inventories, 1927-2001 (Boxes 21-22; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1938-2003 (Box 22, 38, OV 31; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographs, 1905-2000 (Boxes 22-25, 38, OV 31; 3.3 linear feet)

Series 10: Works of Art by Others, 1942-2000 (Boxes 25-26, OV 31; 1.2 linear foot)

Series 11: Scrapbooks, 1936-1998 (Boxes 27-30, 38; 1.3 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: 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.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: 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.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Transcripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Visitors' books
label: Genre/Form
content: Lectures
label: Genre/Form
content: Prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Greeting cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: 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.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: 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.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Material
content: 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.