Description: Jacob Kainen trained as a painter at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute and experimented with printmaking while employed in the graphics program of the Federal Art Project in the 1930's. Kainen, a member of the New York avant-garde in the 1930s, came to the Smithsonian in 1942 and served as graphic arts curator through the 1960's. His friendships in the New York art world assisted his
Description: The Smithsonian American Art Museum began as an art gallery in the Smithsonian Institution Building, the Castle. A National Gallery of Art was formally created in 1906 in the US National Museum. In 1968, the collection moved to the American Art and Portrait Galleries, and its Renwick Gallery opened in 1972. History of the Smithsonian American Art MuseumAdditional Historic