Franz Kline (1910–1962). Painting No. 7, 1952. Oil on canvas, 146 x 207.6 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York 54.1403. © 2009 The Franz Kline Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Following World War II New York City became the center of the avant-garde art world. Artists were working in new ways, and some were exploring the energy of the gesture with loose brushwork that reflected the impact of the artist’s bold movements. The calligraphic brushstroke was an approach to abstract painting that focused on the spontaneous gesture of the artist’s hand and was informed by the East Asian art of calligraphy and popular writings on Zen and its principles of direct action.

Franz Kline (1910–1962) grew up amidst the industrial buildings associated with coal mining. Initially trained as a realist painter, Kline moved to New York City, and became closely associated with important artists of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Like many of his colleagues, Kline was fascinated by East Asian calligraphy and its balance of control and energy, order and dynamism. In Chinese and Japanese calligraphy the brush becomes an extension of the writer’s arm, indeed, his or her entire body. The artist’s stroke not only suggests the movement of the body, but also inner qualities. Abstract as it appears, calligraphy also conveys something about the essence of the individual artist. It is therefore not surprising that 20th-century American Abstract Expressionists who sought to convey emotion through paint were drawn to it.

Kline developed many small compositional studies in ink typically sketched on the pages of telephone books. A much-repeated story recounts a 1948 visit that Kline made to his friend and fellow artist Willem de Kooning. Using an opaque projector de Kooning enlarged some of Kline’s drawings. Once Kline saw his work projected on the wall, and observed the strength and dramatic effect of the abstract shapes, his work became almost exclusively abstract.

Kline’s success came in the early 1950s with large canvases onto which he applied black and white commercial paint with housepainter’s brushes. He became known as an Action Painter because his work expressed movement and energy, emphasizing dynamic line. The characteristic black slashes of Painting No. 7 suggest the full-body movement of the artist as he spontaneously applied the paint, incorporating chance splatters and smearing. Like Kline’s process, the calligrapher must learn traditional forms and movements; but once the rules have been observed, they can be broken to express a personal vitality.

• Before showing this painting to the class, divide students into pairs. Ask one student to face away from the screen while the other looks at the work and describes it in as much detail as possible. The student who is listening should draw the image using only the information from the partner’s verbal description. After 10 minutes display the results, and discuss the experience.
• Notice the size of this painting and map out its dimensions on a classroom wall. How does the size of this work affect its impact? How might that change if this work were much smaller or larger? Explain.
• To better determine whether you see a relationship between Kline’s painting and Asian calligraphy, research books and/or Web sites that feature Chinese or Japanese calligraphy. Two excellent books are listed in the Resources section of this guide. You can also view a short video that features the Chinese calligraphy of Shun Kai Tse. In what ways does Kline’s work seem related to Asian calligraphy? In what ways does it differ?
• How do you think this painting was made? Describe the various steps the artist might have taken to create this work.

• Art historians have documented aspects of Kline’s process. His abstract paintings were sometimes based on quick ink studies he did on the pages of telephone books. To get a feel for the process that Kline used, begin with a stack of pages torn from a discarded telephone book. With a large brush and watered-down black tempera paint or ink create a series of quick studies that use your whole arm (rather than just your hand) to create abstract designs. Kline made hundreds of these studies, but for this exercise, begin with 15–20. Select the study that most appeals to you. If you have access to an overhead projector, photocopy your drawing onto a sheet of transparency film and project the image onto a large sheet of white paper. You can also scan your work and project it digitally. Experiment with how you will position the projection on the paper. Do you want to include the entire study or, as Kline sometimes did, enlarge only a section to fill the space? Once you decide, use a wide brush, black tempera paint, lots of energy, and your entire body to create your painting.
  
  Younger children can emulate the expansive gestures of Kline’s work by painting on a chalkboard with sponge brushes dipped in water to achieve bold expressive strokes.
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• Various critics have suggested that Kline’s painting may have been inspired by:
  • the industrial buildings of his coal-mining hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
  • his experience living in New York City
  • his study of Asian calligraphy
  • James McNeill Whistler’s painting Arrangement in Gray and Black, No. 1 (1871, frequently referred to as Whistler’s Mother)
  Research each of these possibilities and decide which theory seems the most reasonable to you. Then present the evidence to your classmates.
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• Franz Kline is not the only American artist who explored the calligraphic line. Artists Brice Marden (b. 1938), Mark Tobey (1890–1976), David Smith (1906–1965), and Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) all worked in gestural modes. Research works by each of these artists and notice how they developed their own personalized approach to calligraphy. Then experiment with developing your own methods by using various mediums, including paints and inks, and applying them to different surfaces.
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