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Red Crayon
On View
On view
Object number1968/9.93

Red Crayon

Artist (American, 1910-1962)
Date1959
Mediumoil and crayon on canvas
Dimensionsframe: 37 × 33 1/8 × 1 3/8 in. (94 × 84.1 × 3.5 cm)
canvas: 35 1/2 in. × 32 in. (90.2 × 81.3 cm)
Credit LineDirector's Fund
Exhibition History"Franz Kline: The Color Abstractions," The Phillips Collection traveling exhibition (Feb. - Nov. 1979). "The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline in Retrospect," Cinncinnati Art Museum (Nov. 1985 - Mar. 1986); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (Apr. - June 1986); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (June - Sept. 1986). "Abstract Expressionism: Other Dimensions," The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, New Brunswick, NJ (Mar. 25 - June 13, 1990); Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL (Jan. 23 - Mar. 11, 1990); Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL (Oct. 26 - Dec. 13, 1989). "Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity," Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain (Mar. 3 - June 5, 1994); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, England (July 8 - Sept. 11); Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Madrid, (Sept. 27 - Nov. 21); Saarland Museum, Saarbrucken, Germany (Dec. 11 - Feb. 5, 1995). "Abstract Expressionism in the United States," Centro Cultural/Arte Contemporaneo A.C., Mexico City, Mexico (Oct. 10, 1996 - Jan. 12, 1997). On loan to Muskegon Museum of Art (May 21, 1997 - Aug. 4, 1998). "Abstract Expressionism: Then and Now," Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan (May 5 - Aug. 19, 2012). "Lasting Legacy: A Collection for Kalamazoo," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan (Sep. 6, 2014 - Jan. 4, 2015). "Unveiling American Genius," KIA Permanent Collection Exhibition, Traditional, Markin, Nay and Groos Galleries (March 1, 2021 - December 31, 2023). "Legendary Voices: Art for the Next Century," KIA (September 7 - February 18, 2025) Label TextCan paint, itself, convey emotion? Can a brush stroke have meaning? Following World War II, Franz Kline and other Abstract Expressionist artists had no interest in creating paintings that pretended to be anything other than a flat, painted surface. Their brush strokes and colors alone were meant to express the artist’s emotions. Kline’s experimentation began after observing the strong, black lines from one of his realistic sketches magnified and projected on a wall. After working almost exclusively in black and white for a decade, he reintroduced color into his paintings in the late 1950s. In Red Crayon, Kline’s exploration of color qualities—from a bright, acidic yellow to a deep, mellow purple—creates excitement and encourages the viewer to react in different ways to various parts of the painting.