Figure 

Franz Kline made this print, titled "Figure," using black ink on a small sheet of paper. Kline is best known for his large-scale black and white paintings, and this print offers a chance to consider the relationship between them. The stark contrast of black ink on paper creates an immediate, graphic impact, echoing the bold brushstrokes of his larger works. The image looks like an etching, a process involving acid-biting into a metal plate. This kind of printmaking relies on industrial processes, and Kline's adoption of it speaks to the wider context of post-war art, in which the legacies of labor, materiality, and making were being re-evaluated. The process of printmaking—transferring an image from one surface to another—also resonates with Kline’s interest in capturing the essence of form. By embracing printmaking, he extends his exploration of abstraction to a medium that is inherently about reproduction and distribution, prompting us to think about the many lives a single image can have. So, when you look at this work, remember that it is not just an image, but also the result of a process.