Collection Online as of June 8, 2023

(American, 1910–1962)

Oil on canvas

Framed: 196 x 136 x 5 cm (77 3/16 x 53 9/16 x 1 15/16 in.); Unframed: 191.1 x 131.4 cm (75 1/4 x 51 3/4 in.)

Anonymous Gift 1967.3

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Although Kline’s paintings look like variations on Asian calligraphy, the artist denied the influence.

Description

Although Kline's paintings look as if they were executed in a spontaneous burst of activity, they were often painstakingly pre-planned through preliminary studies. Additionally, as in the case of Accent Grave, close inspection reveals passages of reworked areas - white over black and vice-versa - indicating that the final composition was carefully orchestrated. The painting's title derives from the downward sloping black shape in its upper region, which suggests an accent grave in French phonetics.

Provenance

1967–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Museum of Modern Art. The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries, 1958-1959. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1959. Reproduced: p. 41, cat. no. 37

Henning, Edward B. Paths of Abstract Art. Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Museum of Art: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, NY, 1960. Reproduced: p. 33

Sidney Janis Gallery. Kline. New York, NY: Sidney Janis Gallery, 1960. Reproduced: fig. 31

"Year in Review." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LIV, no. 12 (December, 1967):302-347. Reproduced: p. 330, fig. 136

Henning, Edward B. "Annual Report for 1967: Contemporary Art." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LV, no. 6 (June, 1968):183-184. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 183

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 202 archive.org

Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 3 archive.org

Henning, Edward B. "Some Modern Paintings." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LVI, no. 2 (February, 1969):55-87. Mentioned: p. 62-68' Reproduced: p.66, back cover

Wilmerding, John, and R. Peter Mooz. The Genius of American Painting. London, United Kingdom: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973. Reproduced: p. 291

Henning, Edward B. "An Important Sculpture by John Chamberlain." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LX, no.10 (October, 1973):243-246. Reproduced: p. 245

Henning, Edward B. "Plane, Structure, Color, and Content." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXI, no.9 (September,1974):223-239. Reproduced: p. 234, fig. 22

Terada, Tōru. Japanese Art in World Perspective. New York, NY: Weatherhill, 1976. Reproduced: p. 147, fig. 137

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 252 archive.org

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Sam Hunter, and Adolf Max Vogt. Kunst der Gegenwart. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Propyläen Verlag, 1978. Reproduced: p. 154

Ball, Victoria Kloss. The Art of Interior Design. New York, NY: Wiley, 1982. Reproduced: p. 228, fig. 11.25

Gaugh, Harry F. The Vital Gesture, Franz Kline: Cincinnati Art Museum. New York, NY: Abbeville Press, 1985. Reproduced: p. 118, fig. 115; Mentioned: p. 119

Landau, Ellen G. "Space and Pictorial Life: Hans Hofmann's Smaragd Red and Germinating Yellow." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXXII no. 9 (September, 1985):310-323. Reproduced: p. 310; Detail: p. 318

Hinson, Tim E. "Alex Katz's Impala." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXXIII no. 8 (October, 1986):314-326. Reproduced: p. 316

Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 134, no. 45

Wallock, Leonard, and Dore Ashton. New York, Culture Capital of the World, 1940-1965. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1988. Reproduced: p. 140, fig. 147

Lynton, Norbert. The Story of Modern Art. Oxford, United Kingdom: Phaidon, 1989. Reproduced: p. 237, fig. 209

Naylor, Colin, and Leanda Shrimpton. Contemporary Masterworks. Chicago, IL: St. James Press, 1991. Reproduced: p. 148

Kline, Franz, and Stephen C. Foster. Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity. Barcelona, Spain: Fundació Antoni Tàpies, 1994. Reproduced: p. 91, no. 30; Mentioned: p. 200

Barbero, Luca Massimo. Carlo Cardazzo: Una Nuova Visione dell'arte. Milano: Electa, 2008. Reproduced: p. 368; Mentioned: p. 371

Pola, Francesca. "Carlo Cardazzo verso il futuro, tra Nord Europa e Stati Uniti." In Carlo Cardazzo: una nuova visione dell'arte. Barbero, Luca Massimo, 351-381. Milano: Electa, 2008. Reproduced: p. 369; Mentioned: p. 371

Nash, Steven A., and Elizabeth Armstrong. A Passionate Eye: The Weiner Family Collection. Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Art Museum, 2015. Mentioned & reproduced: P. 82-83

Schaefer, Barbara and Anita Hachmann. Es war einmal in Amerika: 300 Jahre US-Amerikanische Kunst. Köln: Wienand Verlag Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 540-541, cat. 131-

Museum of Modern Art. The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries, 1958-1959. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art; distributed by Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 1959. Reproduced: p. 51

Exhibition history

Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1958-1959: The New American Painting, cat. no. 37, repr. p. 51.

Whitney Museum of American Art, 1968: Retrospective - Work of Franz Kline, October 1-November 30, 1968.

CMA: Works from the Contemporary Collection, July 1-mid-October, 1969

Buffalo, Albright-Knox Gallery, 1976: Heritage and Horizons: American Paintings 1776-1976, cat. no. 53, repr.
(also to Detroit Institute of Arts, 1976, and Toledo Museum of Art, 1976, and to CMA, 1976.

Washington, DC, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 1980: The Fifties: Painting in New York 1950-1960, cat. no. 35, repr. p. 78.

Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH, November 29, 1985-March 2, 1986; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, June 26-October 5, 1986: The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline in Retrospect.

CMA, September 16-November 8, 1987: Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960, cat. no. 45, p. 134, repr.

Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy (10/18/2004 - 1/30/2005): "Franz Kline (1910-1962): A Survey of Works", p. 222-223

Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).

Franz Kline, 1910-1962. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 1-November 24, 1968).

Works from the Contemporary Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 1-October 15, 1969).

Heritage and Horizon: American Painting 1776 - 1976. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (organizer) (March 7-April 11, 1976); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (May 2-June 13, 1976); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (July 4-August 15, 1976); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 8-October 10, 1976).

The Fifties: Painting in New York 1950 - 1960. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., DC (organizer) (May 22-September 21, 1980).

Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).

Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity. Whitechapel Art Gallery (July 8-September 11, 1994); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofÍa (September 27-November 21, 1994).

Franz Kline (1910-1962): A Survey of Works. Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli (Torino), Italy (organizer) (October 18, 2004-January 30, 2005).

Once Upon a Time in America. Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Köln, Germany (organizer) (November 23, 2018-March 24, 2019).