Untitled 1940 - 1960

This painting was made by Franz Kline, we don't know when. The deep blacks and near blacks, punctuated by purple and yellow, show that Kline wasn't afraid of color even when he worked within a restricted palette. His mark making feels so impulsive, like the work was all done in one go. Looking closely, the texture is really important here. The paint is applied thinly, you can see the weave of the canvas underneath, and he seems to have scrubbed and layered the paint to build up these incredible dark tones. See that little patch of yellow in the bottom right? It’s like a tiny sun struggling to break through the darkness. Kline reminds me of painters like Joan Mitchell, who also knew how to turn abstract gestures into deeply felt expressions. Ultimately, this painting invites us to embrace ambiguity and find our own meaning within its dynamic forms.