Franz Kline “The Boy Friend” Original Signed Sketch.

KLINE, Franz.

$20,000.00

Item Number: 123539

Rare original sketch signed and inscribed by American painter Franz Kline. One page, with pen and ink caricature sketches on both the recto and verso. Kline has drawn five caricatures on the recto which he has signed and titled “The Boyfriend”. On the verso, he has drawn a single figure and inscribed the work, “You’ve lots of friends let me be among them. Franz Kline.” In near fine condition. A rare and desirable piece exhibiting Kline’s early style. Framed.

Associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s, American painter Franz Kline was a member of the New York School along with fellow action painters Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, John Ferren, and Lee Krasner. Kline's artistic training focused on traditional illustrating and drafting. During the late 1930s and early 1940s Kline worked figuratively, painting landscapes and cityscapes in addition to commissioned portraits and murals. His most recognizable style was developed in the late 1940s, when he dedicated himself to large-scale, abstract works using fluid, dynamic and completely nonrepresentational brushstrokes. Color became a rare element in Kline's paintings and, because of his impact and concrete style, he was dubbed the "black and white artist". A wide varaiety of artists working during Kline's life and after—such as Robert Rauschenberg, Aaron Siskind, Cy Twombly, Mark di Suvero, and Brice Marden—have all called Kline an inspiration.