Untitled

Franz Kline, Untitled, 1961, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.1
Copied Franz Kline, Untitled, 1961, acrylic on canvas, overall_​2: 72 1⁄2 in. × 106 in. (184.2 × 269.3 cm) frame: 73 1⁄4 × 106 5⁄8 × 1 1⁄2 in. (186.1 × 270.8 × 3.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.1

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Artist
Date
1961
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall_​2: 72 1⁄2 in. × 106 in. (184.2 × 269.3 cm) frame: 73 1⁄4 × 106 5⁄8 × 1 1⁄2 in. (186.1 × 270.8 × 3.8 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Abstract
Object Number
1980.5.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1980.5.1

Artwork Description

Untitled seems like the quintessential "action" painting, but the initial impression of opaque black paint impetuously laid down on a while field is deceptive. Franz Kline was a methodical painter who made preliminary sketches for his large canvases and contemplated each stroke of the brush. He worked and reworked edges and intersections, overpainting black on white and white on black to create a ragged, dynamic structure. Although this painting is untitled, many of Kline's black and white canvases were named for industrial structures. Untitled can be interpreted as a bridge seen from below, or a fragment of one of the huge bins that dumped coal in the train yards of Kline's native Pennsylvania.