I was introduced to the work of Noah A. Kinigstein through author, banker, businessman extraordinaire and mutual friend Patrick A. Howell. I met with Noah in his downtown law office in New York. The office and the man were not what I expected. The office is a large loft space divided by partial walls covered in socially conscious and stimulating art and lit with track lighting. The art is that of Noah's, his father, Jonah Kinigstein and other favorites. Noah himself was wearing jeans and a baseball cap, very earthy, energetic and youthful. What did I expect? Safe paintings of flowers on the walls and a suit, I suppose. Much like the law offices I've worked in. This was an exciting change and I certainly enjoyed our conversation. Mr. Kinigstein is as passionate about his art as his law practice as you'll see. (My apologies in advance for the glare on the photos)
How long have you been painting?
I’ve basically been painting my whole life. My father is a painter and my mother was a painter. I grew up in an artistic household.
Work by the Senior KinigstienSo it came natural to you?
I wouldn’t say natural, because there’s a lot of work involved. What is natural is my love of creating and painting, that I’ve always loved to do. That comes from watching my parents enjoy it. I don’t consider myself naturally gifted in a sense, but I’ve had the natural inclination to want to draw.
Other than your parents, who are your artistic influences?
I’ve had different influences over the years, but I’m very influenced by the master painters who challenged themselves to a rendering of life from an aesthetic point of view. I’m a figurative painter not an abstract painter. I really look at the renaissance painters who knew how to use paint, how to apply paint. A lot of the American painters I love too, William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, I love the Ashcan school, really they’re powerful; I love The Hudson River school and I’ve painted a lot of pieces over the years to honor those people.
How long have you been practicing law?
I’ve been practicing law about 27 years, even while I was in law school I was always trying to take a class or paint a little bit.
So you’re passionate about law and your passionate about painting, how do you think they compliment each other?
Well, my wife says that it’s really the same thing. That the passion for the law, the type of law I practice which is justice, civil law, anti-discrimination, constitutional rights and things like that is one side of my creativeness because I practice a kind creative law, trying to push the law but frankly it’s a different thing really. I just want to paint pictures; it’s not exactly the same thing. In very broad strokes there’s a creative aspect to both obviously, but you use your mind in totally different ways when you practice law than when you paint. Law is following rules and procedures and trying to figure out how to fit in to that; while painting, hopefully, is another side of the brain which is a n expansive notion of how things look and feel.
But it definitely influences your subject matter, the things you see in your practice…
Oh definitely. It’s like a diary. Picasso and other painters as well have said they have to paint everyday because every day they’re feeling something and they’re paintings are a reflection of what they were experiencing.
Are you formally trained?
I took classes occasionally; I took a basic watercolor class at Pratt, a few basic oil painting classes at The Figurative Institute over on Franklin Street. I took a few sketch classes and things like that but I never enrolled in a formal training program. And I haven’t taken classes in a log time now, I feel I have the basics that I need to move foreword.
Noah and I talked a bit about how formal training can change an artist and not always for the better and this is what he went on to say...
I’ve had the experience of seeing people who I felt were very good artist who went and trained with people and I think its ruined them, ruined the beauty of their own expression. What can happen is a teacher who has an ax to grind or a particular vision of how things should be done can give you technique but can also supersede your spirit and I don’t like that. I’d rather see mistakes made by a painter than see them trying to reproduce someone else’s vision.
How often do you get to paint?
Everyday, even if it’s a little bit. Sometimes I’m very tired at the end of a day but I try to schedule either very early in the morning or at the end of the day. Now watercolor is a little bit easier for me to paint everyday, because its water, it’s easier to deal with. But oil paints are more complicated; you’re dealing with chemicals that dry so you can’t leave them out. If you squeeze paint or you’re mixing it’s a more involved process.
What mediums do you work in?
Watercolor, oil, pastel, pen and ink, mostly everything. I don’t do sculpture, not yet, I’d like to do sculpture.
Do you have a favorite medium?
No, but over the years I’ve explored a lot of expression in watercolor. It depends on what I‘m working on, the image that’s in my head. Right now I’m working on a very large black crayon drawing, it’s almost full size. It’s a study of the Civil War, I’ve done a lot of drawings of the Civil War; battle fields, people that were involved, just exploring that time and all that was entailed.
I paint for the joy of painting; I love the act of painting I can get lost in it. I sort of have to do it. I’m compelled to do it. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you have to put things away for months.
Does your wife paint?
No, she’s a mid-wife. She has her own artistic interest but she doesn’t paint. My daughter paints, quite a lot actually, she’s in college now but she was involved with mural painting for a while.
Many people who paint are also musicians, play instruments or write literature, is that you?
No I don’t play any instruments, I used to. I write a lot as a lawyer, briefs and what have you. I have started, at various times, plays that I haven’t finished. I would like to finish those, I haven’t had the time.
I can imagine, you have a lot on your plate….
Yeah, I do have a lot on my plate. I got two kids….. trying to get them through college.
How do you deal with blocks or boredom?
Since I don’t do it all the time, all day, everyday; I’m not invested in it in the sense that I don’t do it as an ego identification. So I haven’t had that problem. It’s such a joy to be able to paint and to have the space and time to do it. I always have eight to ten paintings going at one time. If I have a problem with one I just move to the next, I keep moving.
Noah says: "Never be critical of your work, put it aside. Never destroy anything that you’ve done. That’s not useful. Because years from now you’ll look at it and see something and there is something there. Don’t be too critical, it’s very hard to paint and it’s a growth experience. Just have fun, have a good time."
Contact Mr. Kinigstein at
212.567.3813 or
tanelman@aol.com
