Paul Jenkins

(b Kansas City, Missouri, 1923) American painter. Under the G.I. Bill, Paul Jenkins attended the Art Students League in New York from 1948-52, during which time he studied with Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Morris Kantor. Jenkins' pictorial universe consists of streaks of color that awaken associations. He produced his first picture with diluted paints in 1951; later they were executed as pour pictures. The layers of pigment covering the picture supports are whisper-thin. Jenkins' handling is intuitive yet informed by philosophy. He is receptive to sources of inspiration provided by the manifold impressions he has of his immediate surroundings. His aesthetic experiments usually involve the prismatic colors of the rainbow. However, Jenkins also works up the impressions he has received on his extensive travels. In such cases, it is the distinctive color of a particular place that he finds most fascinating. (Credit: Ketterer, Munich, Post-War and Contemporary Art Collection: Foundation “Kunst & Recht”, December 4, 2008, lot 606)