Franz Kline - Hardcover

Gaugh, Harry F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1558597700 ISBN 13: 9781558597709

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1994

Synopsis

Acclaimed as the definitive volume on artist Franz Kline, this book provides firsthand accounts of his Bohemian life and powerful work.

A model of art-historical writing, Franz Kline is, remarkably, still the only available monograph on its subject. With its detailed yet thoroughly readable text and 170 illustrations (many published here for the first time), this book brings to light much new information about Kline, a leading figure among the Abstract Expressionists, and enriches our appreciation and understanding of his art. This book belongs on the book shelf of everyone with an interest in American painting.

Franz Kline's energetic black strokes on a white field are as recognizable as Jackson Pollock’s drips or Mark Rothko’s rectangles of glowing color. He spent years struggling to find a style for himself and then achieved "overnight success" with his dramatic black and white abstractions. They were, in fact, so successful that they overwhelmed every other aspect of Kline's art, and as a result he has been oversimplified and underestimated. Based on nearly 20 years of research, this seminal monograph provides a comprehensive view of Kline's life and work and reveals how unexpectedly complex they both were.

Using interviews with the artist's friends and critics, and quoting from his letters, the author, Harry F. Gaugh, has created an evocative portrait of Kline's evolution from ambitious art student, to penniless Greenwich Village artist painting murals in bars, to, finally, a mature artist in command of his own unique and hard-won style.

About this title

About the Author

Harry F. Gaugh, an art historian specializing in postwar American art, taught at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, until his death in 1992. The leading authority on Franz Kline, Gaugh curated the landmark exhibition The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline in Retrospect. His other books include the volume on Willem de Kooning in Abbeville’s Modern Masters series.

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Excerpt from Franz Kline

Foreword

Abstract Expressionism, an American movement, was a dominant international presence in painting during the 1950s and 60s. It artists turned away from regionalism, storytelling, and literalism that had previously characterized the art of this country. The New York School painters were never grouped formally, nor were they united by a homogeneous style, yet their paintings and drawings generally shared abstraction, large scale, and immediate assertiveness.

Franz Kline (1910 1962) was a giant figure among the Abstract Expressionists, His place in art and in history of twentieth-century painting has not previously been the subject of a major monograph nor an extensive exhibition showing such a wide range of high-quality work. We are grateful to Harry F. Gaugh, associate professor of art history at Skidmore College and noted scholar on Kline and de Kooning, for writing this study and for serving as guest curator of The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline in Retrospect.

The exhibition’s itinerary the Cincinnati Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts makes it accessible to appreciate audiences from east to west, and it introduces Kline to generations who have heard about this present-century old master” but have never seen such an impressive array of his works. That so many private collections, museums, foundations, and corporations would part with their Kline paintings and drawings for the duration of the exhibition deserves our heartfelt thanks.

An exhibition on this scale would not be possible without significant financial support from several sources. We are exceedingly grateful to the Central Trust Company, the National Endowment for the Arts, and A.M. Kinney, Inc., for their generous contributions.

The coordinator of the monograph and exhibition and, indeed, the individual responsible for the initiation and implementation of this project was Denny T. Young, curator of painting at the Cincinnati Art Museum. We are indebted to her for all her efforts. We also greatly appreciate the assistance of Frances Martinabli, curatorial assistant, Painting Department, and the many others whose work has brought this project to fruition.

Millard F. Rogers, Jr.
Director, Cincinnati Art Museum

About this edition

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1558597700
• ISBN 13: 9781558597709
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192