Untitled c. 1940s - 1950s

Editor: We’re looking at an untitled ink drawing on paper by Franz Kline, created sometime in the 40s or 50s. It’s making me think of rain – sort of dark, almost oppressive, but very minimal. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Rain is a lovely thought. For me, Kline's strokes always feel so... elemental. Like lightning cracking across the sky. And I wonder, isn’t it marvelous how these few, deliberate marks suggest not just rain or lightning, but a whole, energetic landscape brewing inside our own heads? Do you feel a sense of urgency in his lines? Editor: I can see that, yeah, a certain dramatic tension. There is urgency but it’s also quite stark in its simplicity. It almost feels incomplete. Curator: Precisely! It’s in that incompleteness that Kline invites us in, I think. He gives us the raw materials and trusts us to build the world. It's pure Abstract Expressionism; he's stripping away everything unnecessary, leaving only the essential gesture. Does it feel like a finished work to you or more of a study? Editor: I suppose it sits somewhere in between; it doesn’t feel overworked. Now, thinking about that gesture, there's a confidence, even in its bareness. Curator: Absolutely. A confidence born not of knowing, but of daring to see what might emerge from the unknown. He isn't illustrating a storm, he’s embodying it. Which, let’s be honest, is much more exciting! It has helped me see Abstract Expressionism in a more direct form. Editor: I completely agree. Thanks! Thinking of it that way really transforms my initial perspective.