Seated Woman c. 1947

Franz Kline made this work on paper with ink, and it's all about the energy of the line, like a calligraphic gesture frozen in time. It feels immediate, doesn't it? Look at how the ink pools and thins, creating a rhythm of dark and light. The figure is suggested, not defined, and those heavy lines have a real weight to them. The strokes are like a dance, bold and confident, yet somehow vulnerable too. Notice the way Kline uses the negative space to define the form. That single stroke that suggests the line of the back, it’s so simple, yet so evocative! Kline's work always reminds me of de Kooning, both of them wrestling with the figure, but in their own distinct ways. Like a jazz riff, Kline takes a familiar subject and turns it into something raw and new. It's not about perfection, but about feeling and movement.