Accession Number
1988/1.136

Title
Untitled

Artist(s)
Franz Kline

Object Creation Date
1961

Medium & Support
oil on cardboard mounted on board

Dimensions
30 3/16 in x 40 3/16 in (76.68 cm x 102.08 cm);31 1/8 in x 41 1/4 in x 1 1/2 in (79.06 cm x 104.78 cm x 3.81 cm)

Credit Line
Bequest of W. Hawkins Ferry

Label copy
March 28, 2009
Kline’s works of the 1950s and 60s are classic New York School paintings, serving, along with Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings and Willem de Kooning’s women, as icons of this important period in American art. Here the dynamism of the black and white lines that crisscross the canvas imparts a strong impression of the vigorous gestures of the painter, and the action of painting. Despite their sense of the accidental or spontaneous, these paintings were actually very carefully composed. Kline would work out the balance between black and white with preparatory sketches, often done in ink wash on the pages of disused phonebooks, which he would tear and rearrange in order to arrive at the right relations. He would then translate the small drawing to the grand scale characteristic of New York School paintings. Kline introduced key touches of color into his later work, as in this example.

Subject matter
“Untitled” is typical of Kline’s work during the 1950s and 60s, his use of strong lines of black and white paint imparts a sense of the artist’s hand, creating a cacophony of line and gesture. Despite the appearance of the accidental, this work is actually very carefully conceived and consciously constructed. The balance between black and white, volume and void, is precisely thought out while expressing an urgency and vitality.

Physical Description
Abstract painting composed of long broad brushstrokes in black and white with a small area of red in the upper left quadrant.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
abstract

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Abstract (fine arts style)
Abstract Expressionist
abstraction
modern and contemporary art