Biography

Franz Kline was among the foremost figures of Abstract Expressionism in the United States. Between 1931 and 1935 he studied at the School of Fine and Applied Arts and at Boston University.
In 1937 he continued his studies at the Heatherly School of Fine Arts in London, before moving to New York in 1938, where he established his own studio. From 1952 to 1954 he taught at several institutions, including Black Mountain College, the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and the Philadelphia Museum School of Art.

Kline’s early work still reflected American Realism, tinged with Cubist influences, and in the 1930s he created figurative cityscapes of New York.
Yet the energy, speed, and restlessness of urban America soon drove him further into abstraction, which he pursued on increasingly larger canvases. As he himself explained, in these works he was “painting experiences.”

In the final years of his career, his art moved entirely away from representation, embracing a radical non-objectivity. His canvases were reduced to a starkly limited palette, defined by vigorous strokes and sweeping brushwork. One example from this period is his untitled collage with oil on paper from 1958.

Together with Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Kline is regarded as one of the initiators of Action Painting.
He took part in documenta II in Kassel in 1959 and—posthumously—in documenta III in 1964.

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ARTWORKS Franz Kline

Horse Grazing, 1948
oil on canvas
63.5 x 76.2 cm
Franz Kline
Horse Grazing

1948

oil on canvas

63.5 x 76.2 cm

signed lower right

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Untitled, ca. 1950
oil on paper
40.7 x 26 cm
Franz Kline
Untitled

ca. 1950

oil on paper

40.7 x 26 cm

signed lower right

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Untitled, ca. 1950
oil on paper
29.5 x 37 cm
Franz Kline
Untitled

ca. 1950

oil on paper

29.5 x 37 cm

signed lower left

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Wild Horses, 1950
oil on canvas
66 x 95.2 cm
Franz Kline
Wild Horses

1950

oil on canvas

66 x 95.2 cm

verso signed

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Reclining Figure, 1947
oil on cardboard
15.2 x 30.5 cm
Franz Kline
Reclining Figure

1947

oil on cardboard

15.2 x 30.5 cm

signed lower left

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Horse, 1947
ink and pastel on paper (painted on both sides)
29 x 38.5 cm
Franz Kline
Horse

1947

ink and pastel on paper (painted on both sides)

29 x 38.5 cm

signed and dated lower left

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Landscape with Black and White Horses
oil on canvas
30.5 x 41 cm
Franz Kline
Landscape with Black and White Horses

oil on canvas

30.5 x 41 cm

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