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Jankel Adler (1895-1949) had his first exhibition at Gimpel Fils in March 1947, displaying works inspired by the writings of Franz Kafka. Gimpel Fils had opened in November the previous year and Adler’s display was the third exhibition in the gallery’s history. Throughout his career, Adler explored the tension between abstraction and naturalism. The works in this exhibition demonstrate the breadth of his investigations; figurative ink drawings from 1940 and 1941 display emotions, subtly caught in sketchy lines, while paintings from 1947 depict ambiguous, abstract symbols. What was consistent in Adler’s practice however, was a dedication to capturing the dignity of the human spirit.