Franz Kline (1910-1962)

Elaine de Kooning, as the wife of Willem de Kooning—who once described Kline as his “best friend”—and knew Kline very well, eloquently wrote of this aspect of his work, “it was Kline’s unique gift to be able to translate the character and the speed of a one-inch flick of the wrist to a brush-stroke magnified a hundred times. (Who else but Tintoretto has been able to manage this gesture?) All nuances of tone, sensitivity of contour, allusions to other art are engulfed in his black and white insignia, as final as a jump from the top floor of a skyscraper” -Elaine de Kooning
(E. de Kooning, “Franz Kline,” quoted in C. Christov-Bakargiev, (ed.), Franz Kline 1910-62, exh, cat. Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, 2004, p. 345).