Blueberry Eyes

Franz Kline, Blueberry Eyes, 1959-1960, oil on paperboard, 40 ¹⁄₈ x 29 ³⁄₄ in. (101.9 x 75.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1982.57

Artwork Details

Title: Blueberry Eyes
Artist: Franz Kline
Date: 1959-1960
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 40 ¹⁄₈ x 29 ³⁄₄ in. (101.9 x 75.6 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Woodward Foundation
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on paperboard
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Abstract
Object Number: 1982.57
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1982.57

Artwork Description

The centralized green, black, and red strokes set against a blue field in Blueberry Eyes project the aspect of a figure against a background space. The energy here is electric, even joyous. In a rare acknowledgment of a specific source, Kline told the painting’s first owner that he named the composition for the color of the eye shadow worn by his companion when she returned from a trip to Paris.

Modern Masters: Midcentury Abstraction from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2008