Night Walk
1965
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut on Asian paper
Dimensions
image: 55.9 x 39.4 cm (22 x 15 1/2 in.) sheet: 61 x 45.7 cm (24 x 18 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen in honor of the artist's 90th birthday
Accession Number
1999.82.35
Art Historical Context
**Night Walk**, a captivating woodcut created by Jacob Kainen in 1965, invites visitors into a mysterious nocturnal realm. Printed on delicate Asian paper—a medium favored by printmakers for its soft texture, absorbency, and subtle luminosity—this work measures 55.9 x 39.4 cm (image) and exemplifies the tactile intimacy of relief printing. Kainen, an esteemed American artist and curator (1909–2001), masterfully carved his design into wood blocks, layering ink to evoke depth and movement, characteristic of his abstract explorations during the vibrant mid-20th-century printmaking renaissance. I...
About the Artist
Jacob Kainen
Jacob Kainen was born on December 7, 1909, in Waterbury, Connecticut, to Russian immigrant parents who nurtured his cultural interests; his father was an inventor, and his mother instilled a love of music and literature. The family relocated to New York City in 1918, where Kainen immersed himself in art through newspaper clippings and visits to the Metropolitan Museum. After graduating from DeWitt...