Paul Jenkins

(1923-2012)

Paul Jenkins was an American pioneer “Colorfield” Abstract artist and member of the New York School. Jenkins’s innovative practice was characterized by his choice to avoid the paintbrush altogether, instead of allowing pigment to pool, bloom, or roll across the surface of his canvases, guiding the paint with a knife to create fluid fields of color, as seen in his work Phenomena Anderson (1972). “With the smooth organic surface of the ivory, I could use great pressure against the sensitive tooth of the canvas,” the artist said of his process. Born William Paul Jenkins on July 12, 1923, in Kansas City, MO. Jenkins worked at a ceramics factory in his youth, an experience that heavily influenced his tactile methods of painting. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and the Art Students League in New York. A close friend of Mark Rothko, Jenkins remained tied to the city even during his move to Paris during the 1950s. His work is found in many major collections.