Summer [recto] 1956

Jacob Kainen made this abstract ink wash drawing on paper; he called it ‘Summer.’ You can see how the dark ink bleeds and pools on the page, almost like watercolor, which gives it a casual, immediate feeling, like he made it in one go. The drawing is made up of bold, gestural marks. Look at the interplay between the washes of diluted ink and the dry, scratchy lines made with a pen or a dry brush. The ink is translucent in some areas, allowing the paper to shine through, while in others it’s built up to create a dense, opaque darkness. There’s a real push and pull between accident and intention here. That scribble, those floating lines, they remind me of Cy Twombly. Kainen probably knew Twombly’s work, and I like to think of them as being in conversation across time and space. Ultimately, this piece shows how art is not about answers, but about posing questions.