Photo Credit: David Dietrich

Artist

Jacob Kainen (Primary), WPA/Federal Art Project (Publisher)

Title

Cement Mixer

Date

1938

Century

20th century

Medium & Support

Color lithograph on paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 14 7/8 x 20 1/2 in. , Image: 11 7/8 x 15 7/8 in.

Style

American Scene-Urban

Object Type

Prints

Credit Line

Gift of Thelma Lowenstein

Accession Number

1993.08.05.61

Copyright

In Copyright
© The Jacob Kainen Art Trust / HEMPHILL Fine Arts, Washington, DC

Kainen studied at The Art Students League of New York and Pratt Institute in New York City. He worked for the WPA Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1942, exclusively in the Graphics Arts Division. He became good friends with the artist Arshile Gorky, who painted his portrait in 1934. Kainen learned from Gorky the importance of composition, the flattening of forms, and the relationship of the outlines of forms within an image. Kainen’s absorption of these lessons may be seen in this color lithograph, which clearly represents workers on a jobsite, while the limited palette and simplified forms edge toward abstraction.

Exhibition Title: Asheville Art Museum: An Introduction to the Collection
Label Date: 2021
Type: Catalogue Entry
Written by: Cindy Buckner

• workers