Today we remember and celebrate the birth of Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline.
Kline was best known for his role as an "action painter", creating large-scale canvases, which featured abstract motifs and calligraphic bolts of black paint over white fields.
This spontaneous, gestural style of work became iconic amidst mid-20th-century Abstract Expressionism. Kline helped pioneer this movement alongside other notable artists including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Joan Mitchell.
During his lifetime, Kline exhibited widely in New York and beyond. Kline’s work belongs in the collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others, and his paintings have sold for tens of millions on the secondary market.
Happy birthday Franz Kline!
.
.
.
.