JACOB KAINEN (Washington, D.C., 1909-2001). MAN ASTRIDE A CHAIR 1962, signed lower right. Oil on canvas
Click here to view supplemental information for this lot. - Framed, 40 in. x 33 in. Estimate $4,000-6,000
Per a letter from artist's wife, Ruth C. Kainen to Mr. Fastov of March 25, 1991, discussing this painting, including the date of execution, exhibition record and provenance, a copy of which, with its 3 attachments, will be furnished to the purchaser. In such letter, Mrs. Kainen stated:
Thank you for your letter of March 9th. We are glad to know where the painting Man Astride a Chair, is located. It was done in 1962 and exhibited the Corcoran [Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.] in a one man show in 1963 and purchased by the Phillips collection [Washington, D.C.]. It was shown there with several other paintings of Jacob's in December of 1979 in connection with his 70th birthday. The Phillips family must have let Dorothy Phillips have it some time later; or perhaps she owned it even then. [Mr. Fastov acquired the painting from Dorothy Phillips or her estate.]
Jacob never worked from a model but rather from sketches, often done years before and often quite cursory. This painting was done from a drawing he made in 1934 of a friend, but of course he changed the shape of the chair he was sitting on. Jacob has always been very conscious of making "interesting shapes," hence the exaggerated rumpled contours of the jacket. He also added the red tie and the "curtain" on the right for composition purposes. The painting was one of a group that Jacob did in the early '60s in which had a dark figure against a light background, something which is very hard to achieve satisfactorily because the dark absorbs light. Jacob felt he was reversing the method of Caravaggio who as you know painted light against dark. The National Museum of American Art has two paintings done in this manner; Woman with Dark Hair of 1959' and a portrait of Gene Davis done in 1961. The painting is one of a body of works which represent an aspect of Jacob's work that lasted from 1959 to 1961, which is about as long as a period of Jacob's work tends to be. Toward the end he was doing figures in a more realistic way….[ Mrs. Kainen also appended to her letter 3 newspaper reviews by art critics of Kainen's work done during this period, including one by Frank Getlein of the Washington Star of November 12, 1961 and two by Leslie Judd Ahlander of the Washington Post of November 12, 1961 and March 3, 1963. The March 3, 1962 review was of the above-described Corcoran Gallery Art exhibition of Kainen's works, including this auction painting, of 1963 and makes for interesting and directly relevant reading concerning Kainen's style, subject matter and technique, as manifested in this exhibition, much of which is consistent with Mrs. Kainen's analysis of Man Astride a Chair, as set forth above.
