Franz Kline (1910-1962)

            Franz Kline was an Abstract Expressionist artist of the 1900s. He was born in 1910 in Pennsylvania, and developed his love for art in his high school drawing class. He decided to take on art as a career, first studying illustration and cartooning. He attended the Heatherley’s School of Fine Art in London, from 1936-1938, where he met his future wife, Elizabeth. He moved to New York and lived as a starving artist; he struggled to survive because he didn’t like to sell his paintings.

            Kline struggled to find an artistic style throughout much of his career. He began doing figurative work, drawing many self-portraits. He also painted landscapes, still lifes, and murals. Then, in 1946, he gradually turned toward abstraction. Once he found his niche in abstract art, there was no turning back. His abstract paintings became so famous that they overwhelmed every other aspect of his art. Many people know Kline for his abstractions, but not many people know that he did other types of art as well.

            His most famous abstract pieces are his black and white paintings. These are paintings of extreme contrast and dramatic lines. I was intrigued by these paintings because they are so unique; they are simple, yet loud and bold. Figure Eight is a black and white painting that caught my eye because of its intense black line- the line captures so much energy and movement. I also like his technique of “overpainting” in Figure Eight, which is where “Many of the whites… lie on top of the blacks, some of which Kline let show through intentionally while others have worked to the surface as the painting has aged” (Gaugh 78). This gives the painting visual layers that capture attention.

Figure Eight

Although Kline was most known for his abstractions, one of his paintings I really liked was from the Jazz Murals he painted in 1933. He painted a series of stylized musicians on a wall in the town roller-skating rink in Lehighton, PA. I love these murals because music is such a passion of mine, and he really portrayed the musicians in an exciting way. It's almost like you can hear the music they are playing because each character is portrayed with such movement and excitement. Unfortunately, the walls which the murals were painted on were torn down in 1980. 

Another painting I like incorporates his early figure drawings with abstract qualities. Small Seated Figure was painted in 1947 and combined "loosely brushed contour with colored planes" (Gaugh 42).

 Small Seated Figure

One of my favorite paintings I found when researching Kline's work was an untitled piece painted in 1948. In this abstraction, Kline used so many different textures and colors, as well as shapes and figures. I find myself trying to find different images among the painting, even though it just consists of lines and curves. The way he placed the colors and lines together is quite fascinating. 

Franz Kline created similar abstract paintings to the black and white images, but utilized color as well. Many of his abstract paintings are very colorful, while others are quite simple. One of the more simple paintings I love is his Scudera. This piece is primarily painted different shades of blue, with black and red accents. I like how simple this painting is, yet beautiful and elegant. The rich blue color and very calming and easy on the eye.

Gaugh, Harry F. Franz Kline. Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati Art Museum, 1994. Print.


Metzger, Robert P. and Franz Kline. Franz Kline: the jazz murals. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University, 1989. Print.