Untitled c. 1950

Franz Kline made this untitled work on an irregular sheet, using paint and charcoal, the orange sitting on top of the dark grey. It’s so raw, right? I can almost feel Kline wrestling with the composition. Imagine him, charcoal in hand, slashing those lines, searching for a form. I see that assertive block of orange, not quite a square, more like a stubborn presence, pushing against the smoky grays. It makes me think about the physical act of painting – the push and pull, the give and take. Is it a landscape, or something else? The way Kline leaves the charcoal lines visible underneath that bold color makes me wonder if he was thinking about what it means to leave things unresolved. I can see echoes of Motherwell in it. And definitely the ghost of de Kooning, with that scrappy energy. Ultimately, painting is about being in a conversation across time, each mark carrying echoes of the past and possibilities for the future.