Hesperus

Jacob Kainen

Jacob Kainen considered himself first and foremost a painter, yet his printmaking exhibits the same quality of innovation and deft expertise as any 20th century leader in the field. In “Hesperus” he has managed to combine the sensibilities of his primary medium with the drastically different lithograph medium, coaxing intentional delicacy, spontaneity, and mood from the stone. His use of saturated color is perhaps the one thing that sets “Hesperus” apart from the majority of his printed works, which were often executed in black and white or muted tones.

Throughout his remarkable life, Kainen experimented with different mediums and explored many styles, yet he identified himself as a painter. His work took root in the Social Realism of the 1930s, later becoming involved in the development of abstract expressionism. Fiercely independent and anti-establishment, he rejected labels and moved from visceral abstractions to figurative work to abstraction again, refining these styles at his own pace. His work became well known for its variations and diversity, color and form and explorations of light and space.