562 - Franz Kline (1910 Wilkes-Barre – New York 1962)

Franz Kline (1910 Wilkes-Barre – New York 1962) Abstract Composition Tempera on paper, mounted on cardboard. (1959). Approx. 31.5 x 41.5 cm. Signed lower right. • A rare, striking work of Abstract Expressionism with distinguished provenance • Formerly in the collection of the Milanese publisher Giorgio Mondadori • Works by Franz Kline are held in major museum collections of Abstract Expressionism worldwide This striking work on paper by Franz Kline embodies everything that defines the work of this important Abstract Expressionist through the condensation of physical gesture and space, as well as the clear black-and-white contrast. Broad swaths of color extend from the edge of the picture onto an equally prominent white background. The composition is the result of a painting technique involving layer upon layer of color, a style that also characterizes his large-format canvas paintings. Kline often prepares these in smaller works on paper, such as the one presented here. Kline has been using black and white as a concise contrast of forces since 1949. In the 1950s and 1960s, the legendary Galleria La Tartaruga in Rome was the first in Europe to present solo exhibitions by Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Robert Rauschenberg, and Cy Twombly, thus becoming a gathering place for the American avant-garde and a magnet for collectors of contemporary art in Europe. When Franz Kline died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1962 at the age of only 51, the Marlborough Galleria d’Arte in Rome took over the artist’s modest estate. There, in 1972, the well-known Milanese publisher Giorgio Mondadori purchased this particularly distinctive tempera painting. Provenance: Galleria La Tartaruga, Rome, label on the reverse; Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, label on the reverse; Giorgio Mondadori Collection, Milan, acquired from the aforementioned in 1972; Private collection, Lugano, acquired from the aforementioned; Private collection, Milan. Taxation: subject to margin scheme (VAT: Margin Scheme).