Franz Kline Paintings

American, 1910-1962

Franz Kline (1910 – 1962) was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Kline, along with other action painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell and Lee Krasner, as well as local poets, dancers, and musicians came to be known as the informal group, the New York School. Although he explored the same innovations to painting as the other artists in this group, Kline's work is distinct in itself and has been revered since the 1950s. Kline was born in Wilkes-Barre, a small coal-mining community in Eastern Pennsylvania. He studied art at Boston University from 1931 to 1935, then spent a year at the Heatherley School of Fine Art in London where he met his future wife, Elizabeth V. Parsons, a British ballet dancer. She returned to the United States with Kline in 1938, and Kline worked as a designer for a department store in New York state. He moved to New York City in 1939 and worked for a scenic designer. It was during this time in New York that he developed his artistic techniques and gained recognition as a significant artist. He later taught at a number of institutions including Black Mountain College in North Carolina and the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He spent summers from 1956 to 1962 painting in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Kline's artistic training focused on traditional illustrating and drafting. During the late 1930s and early 1940s he worked figuratively, painting landscapes and cityscapes in addition to commissioned portraits and murals. His individual style can be first seen in the mural series Hot Jazz, which he painted for a New York bar in 1940. The series revealed his interest in breaking down representative forms into quick, rudimentary brushstrokes. The personal style he developed during this time, using simplified forms, became increasingly more abstract. Many of the figures he depicted are based on the locomotives, stark landscapes, and large mechanical shapes of his native, coal-mining community in Pennsylvania. This is sometimes only apparent to viewers because the pieces are named after those places and objects, not because they actually look like the subject. With the influence of the contemporary New York art scene, Kline worked further into abstraction and eventually abandoned representationalism. From the late 1940s onward, Kline began generalizing his figurative subjects into lines and planes which fit together much like the works of Cubism of the time.

Artist: Franz Kline

Franz KlineBelow South Ferry, 1941

$67,500

Below South Ferry

By Franz Kline

Located in New York, NY

Signed (at lower right): KLINE EXHIBITED: Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, November 1–30, 1960, The November Show, as “Moonlight in Lower Manhattan” // Pratt Institute, Brooklyn...

Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Natalie BirdSummer Sheep By Natalie Bird, 2023

$172

H 5.52 in W 7.09 in D 0.4 in

Summer Sheep By Natalie Bird

By Natalie Bird

Located in Deddington, GB

original Oil on board Image size: H:14 cm x W:18 cm Sold Unframed Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look Oil on board

Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Vintage American Abstract Expressionist Framed Modernist MCM Oil Painting, 1950

$1,495

H 24 in W 31 in D 2 in

Vintage American Abstract Expressionist Framed Modernist MCM Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Measuring: 24 by 31 inches overall, and 18 by 26 painting alone. In excellent original condition. Nicely fram...

Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

William Yates Modern City scape, London from St.Pauls in monochrome, circa 1970

$2,950

H 36 in W 24 in

Modern City scape, London from St.Pauls in monochrome

Located in Woodbury, CT

William Yates (British, 20th Century) St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Oil on board, circa 1970 Signed on the reverse William Yates was a gifted British painter whose expressive citysca...

Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Blaikie Hines Vintage American Hudson River School Coastal Sunset Framed Signed Oil Painting, 1990

$636Sale Price|20% Off

H 12 in W 14 in D 2 in

Vintage American Hudson River School Coastal Sunset Framed Signed Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American Hudson River School seascape painting. Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Measuring: 12 by 14 inches overall, and 5 by 7 painting alone.. In excellent original conditio...

Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Dorothy DixonVintage Green and Sepia Surrealist Cityscape Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting, C. 1950

$636Sale Price|20% Off

H 23 in W 30 in D 1 in

Vintage Green and Sepia Surrealist Cityscape Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American abstract cityscape by Dorothy Dixon. Framed. Measuring: 23 by 30 inches overall. Signed on verso. Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.

Category

20th Century Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Ivan GrozdanovskiDeep Purple-Original abstract landscape- skyskape-oil painting-contemporary Art, 2026

$2,623

H 35.44 in W 35.44 in D 1.19 in

Deep Purple-Original abstract landscape- skyskape-oil painting-contemporary Art

By Ivan Grozdanovski

Located in London, Chelsea

We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Angela WakefieldEarthy Brown & Green Abstract Expressionist Art - a Unique Original Painting, 1999

$34,515

H 28.5 in W 38 in D 2.5 in

Earthy Brown & Green Abstract Expressionist Art - a Unique Original Painting

By Angela Wakefield

Located in Preston, GB

Earthy Brown & Green Abstract Expressionist Art - a Unique Original Painting - an extremely rare early work from leading British Contemporary Artist, Angela Wakefield. This colou...

Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Cotton, Paint, Varnish, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, ...

Harold HaydonA Vibrant, 1960s Mid-Century Modern Abstract Oil Painting, Burning Fire (Flame), 1961

$850

H 9.25 in W 11.25 in D 1 in

A Vibrant, 1960s Mid-Century Modern Abstract Oil Painting, Burning Fire (Flame)

By Harold Haydon

Located in Chicago, IL

A Vibrant, Unique Surrealist 1960s Mid-Century Modern Abstract Oil Painting of Burning Fire (Flame) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon. A vivid, eye-catching example of Haydon...

Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

Angela WakefieldGolden Yellow & Brown Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media Art on Paper, 1999, 1999

$31,063

H 26 in W 34 in D 2.5 in

Golden Yellow & Brown Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media Art on Paper, 1999

By Angela Wakefield

Located in Preston, GB

Golden Yellow & Brown Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media Art on Paper, 1999 - a Unique Original Painting - an extremely rare early work from leading British Contemporary Artist, ...

Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Cotton, Wood, Paint, Paper, Parchment Paper, Varnish, Cot...

Natalie BirdMeadow herb at the Pentland Hills, 2023

$276

H 7.88 in W 11.82 in D 0.4 in

Meadow herb at the Pentland Hills

By Natalie Bird

Located in Deddington, GB

original Oil on board Image size: H:20 cm x W:30 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:20 cm x W:30 cm x D:1cm Sold Unframed Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of...

Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Peter KaldorVintage American Impressionist Landscape Signed Giltwood Framed Oil Painting, 1973

$695

H 24 in W 22 in D 2 in

Vintage American Impressionist Landscape Signed Giltwood Framed Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist mountain landscape oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Measuring: 24 by 22 inches overall, and 18 by 20 painting alone. Handsomely framed in wide giltwood ...

Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Nicely Framed Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Signed Painting, 1950

$1,475

H 29 in W 35 in D 2 in

Nicely Framed Antique American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Signed Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Measuring 29 by 35 inches overall and 23 by 29 painting alone. In excellent original condition. Handso...

Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Previously Available Items

Franz KlineChatham Square, 1948

Sold

H 41 in W 30 in

Chatham Square

By Franz Kline

Located in New York, NY

Signed (at lower left): FRANZ KLINE RECORDED: Elizabeth Johnson, “Franz Kline’s Roots in Coal and Steel—at Allentown Art Museum,” Artblog (December 21. 2012), illus. in color // Tim...

Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Franz Kline paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Franz Kline paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Bette Ridgeway, Anne Sargent Walker, and Rachel Personett.