Overview

Acclaimed as the definitive volume on Kline, this book provides firsthand accounts of his Bohemian life Franz Kline spent years struggling to find a style for himself and then achieved ""overnight success"" with his dramatic black-and-white abstractions. They were, in fact, so successful that they overwhelmed every other aspect of Kline's art, and as a result he has been oversimplified and underestimated. Based on nearly 20 years of research, this seminal monograph provides a comprehensive view of Kline's life and work and reveals how unexpectedly complex they both were. Using interviews with the artist's friends and critics, and quoting from his letters, the author has created an evocative portrait of Kline's evolution from ambitious art student, to penniless Greenwich Village artist painting murals in bars, to, finally, a mature artist in command of his own unique and hard-won style. With its detailed yet thoroughly readable text and 170 illustrations (many published here for the first time), this book brings to light much new information about Kline and enriches our appreciation and understanding of his art. Dr. Harry F. Gaugh, an art historian specializing in postwar American art, taught at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, until his death in 1992. 170 illustrations

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9781558597709

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A sympathetic, though unsparing, account of the artist's life is interwoven expertly with the history of his work, resulting in an exemplary study of a contemporary painter's career. (San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle)

Author Information

Harry F. Gaugh, an art historian specialising in postwar American art, taught at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, until his death in 1992. The leading authority on Franz Kline, Gaugh curated the landmark exhibition The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline in Retrospect. His other books include the volume on Willem de Kooning in Abbeville’s Modern Masters series.

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