Mother and Children

This painting of a mother holding a baby, a young girl, and woman or older girl in the background suggests a close relationship between the figures. The mother’s dynamic figure extends diagonally across the composition, while the young woman and girl occupy spaces to her left and right. The interplay of bright blue and red colors contrasted with cool grays and violets suggests the individual moods and presence of each sitter. During this phase of the artist Jacob Kainen’s career, he used bold, deliberate colors in his depiction of figures to emphasize their primacy and ability to communicate feelings and ideas. Expressions are barely perceptible on the brown and gray faces, but colors intimate the sitters’ dispositions.