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FRANZ KLINE: STUDIES
AT PAUL THIEBAUD GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco, California: The Paul Thiebaud Gallery is pleased to present a series of works on paper by renowned abstract expressionist Franz Kline [1910 – 1962]. Franz Kline: Studies will be on view from November 13 through December 20, 2008. This group of studies was originally gifted to the painter, Wayne Thiebaud, who met Kline in the ‘50s. Kline provided them to Thiebaud for the purposes of educating and instructing his students in Sacramento, California.

Best known for his large, calligraphic black and white abstractions, Kline created a large number of preparatory works of art, exploring formal concerns in compositions that could possibly lead to larger canvases. This exhibition provides an intimate look at these initial steps in the artist’s process. Though categorized as action painting, Kline’s seemingly spontaneous works were in actuality thoroughly planned. Using an opaque projector, the artist enlarged his sketches to create the paintings.

The studies were executed in ink on pages torn from telephone directories. He chose this support not only for its abundant availability, but also for the spatial push and pull that the text creates in the negative spaces. Seeing the white in his paintings as equally important to the black, the text of the telephone book pages gave energy and life to the negative space, a concept underlying all of his work.

Complete pieces in themselves, the studies are perhaps better examples of action painting than the larger, more carefully produced paintings. The quickness of the line, the expressive nature of the brushstroke and the subconscious positioning of the composition speak to this. However, to stop there would be to fall short of his ultimate pursuit—one shared with his contemporaries at the Cedar Tavern. It is through the use of these studies that we see Kline ultimately succeed in the goal of the abstract expressionists—to create self-referential art.

A fully-illustrated catalogue with an essay by the painter, Wayne Thiebaud, accompanies the exhibition.

Public Reception—Thursday November 13, 2008 - 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm; open to the public.