“I paint not the things I see but the feelings they arouse in me.” –Franz Kline
Franz Kline, Mahoning, 1956. Whitney Museum, NY
I love the way this painting conveys Kline’s energy and spirit through its bold, gestural brushstrokes that dance effortlessly across the canvas. Kline’s artistic practice is often misunderstood and oversimplified by the casual viewer. Most people assume that his paintings are simply a collection of improvised black marks against a primed white canvas. However, Kline’s paintings were meticulously planned and reworked, and consist of several layers of black and white paint. This detailed layering results in a tension that makes each painting come alive in the face of the viewer. As Kline explained himself, “People sometimes think I take a white canvas and paint a black sign on it, but this is not true. I paint the white as well as the black, and the white is just as important.”
As I mentioned, Kline planned his paintings beforehand with preliminary drawings and sketches. This particular work was based on a small drawing he made on a page from a telephone book. While painting the final version, Kline projected this drawing onto the canvas so that he could copy it perfectly. I think this is really interesting because it clashes with our assumptions that abstract expressionist painting was mainly improvised and spontaneous.
Another unique aspect of this painting is that Kline incorporated collage elements, fixing sheets of paper to the canvas and then painting over them with layers of black paint. This detail might reference the phone-book sketch the work was based on. Lastly, this work is titled after a small town near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania — where Kline lived as a child. Hence, even though it is abstract, the title suggests this painting might represents the hilly landscapes of Pennsylvania, or perhaps more fittingly, the grit and fortitude of American coal country.