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Lot 125
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Superb Franz Kline Archive of 12 Handwritten, Signed Letters Plus 1958 Poster
Superb Franz Kline Archive of 12 Handwritten, Signed Letters Plus 1958 Poster
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Description:

Superb Franz Kline Archive of 12 Handwritten, Signed Letters Plus 1958 Poster

Twelve autograph letters signed, one with original ink sketches, dating from 1936 to 1958 (the majority dated 1940), from the Abstract Expressionist artist Franz Kline (1910-1962) to his lifelong friend, fellow artist Frederick Ryan, with whom he had studied from 1932 to 1935 at the Boston Art Students’ League. Also included is a postcard to Ryan from Martha Kinney, Kline’s girlfriend at the time, just as she arrived in England to join Kline, and an exhibition poster for Kline’s 1958 show at Sidney Janis. The letters show expected wear, which may include folds and creases, with some separation at folds; toning; scattered foxing; light soiling and staining. The archive is housed in a cloth-covered album, held within a matching cloth clamshell box, which measures 16" W x 15" H x 2.75" D.

The archive includes, in chronological order:

1.) Autograph Note Signed, “Martha”, on a postcard measuring 5.5” x 3.5”, undated, but most likely January 1936 based on partial postmark, recto with color illustration of the M.V. Britannic. In full: “Well, here I am in England held up in the harbor because of fog. We may be here for a couple days. The voyage was deadly. I’m terribly anxious to get there because Franz has a darling place picked out to live. He wrote me a little at Cobb telling me all about it. 28 Queensborough Terrace, London, W2. There are rather a nice group of older people aboard. Remember me to the family.”

Martha Kinney was Kline’s companion at this time, having been introduced to him by Ryan in 1933, and after Kline left for London aboard the S.S. Georgic in October 1935, she made plans to join him there. Kline’s original apartment in the city was on Belsize Crescent in Camden, which he rented with a fellow passenger on the Georgic, Frank Hahn; however, they were soon evicted for “taking too many nighttime baths in the oversized bathtub.” The two roommates quickly found the Queensborough Terrace flat in Bayswater that Kinney writes about to Ryan on her journey over in early 1936, and into which she would also move. In April 1936, the three would relocate to nearby Westbourne Grove, with Hahn leaving soon afterward for a job in Singapore. Kline and Kinney remained in this flat until December 1936, when Kinney left Kline to return to the United States for a marriage arranged by her mother, who thought that Kline would “never amount to anything”. They did not see each other again, although there was a brief correspondence in 1938.

2.) Autograph Letter Signed, "Franz", 8pp on two leaves of bifold stationery, 5.25" x 7", London, undated, but ca. August 10, 1936 based on included postmarked mailing envelope. One leaf with ink sketches at top. Kline describes some of his London experiences for Ryan, in part: “Well Freddie it's no use going on 'how much I like London' you can imagine it all. From every standpoint it's great. Subject matter of all types and the home and working grounds of our illustrative masters. Whistler, Abbey, May, etc. And if Sargent, Whistler, and Abbey liked it enough to work here, I certainly would be a Jerry Milliken if I wouldn't”. Kline also relates his meeting up with his high school English teacher, Mathilda A. Roedel, and showing her around London "...from Abbey & St Pauls to the museums and May’s originals. She bought three original pencil studies of Sir Henry Irving for £5 and gave them to me. Beautiful studies they are valued at £20. So I still have to get over the excitement and enjoyment of it all. One of them is reproduced in Jim Thorpes book on Phil May. By now I have ten books on him some first editions so you see I still have old Phil in the blood..." He concludes with best wishes and "Regards from Martha who sits propped up in bed eating candy and reading. For her there's no place like USA..."

Mathilda Roedel visited Kline in late June/early July 1936, and several of the Phil May books alluded to in the letter during this visit were found in Kline’s studio after his death in 1962. The Artist was a magazine which frequently devoted a page or two to work by London art school students; Kline’s drawings were published in the October 1936 issue. Kline goes on to rave about the work of Spurrier: “Hence I am trying to let good drawing predominate the otherwise technical ‘smartness’ my work seemed to have.” Kline also tells of having bought a pen: “…I picked up today for 5/ to draw with on the streets. An ordinary fountain pen. Shall I give you a sample of its scratches. Here they are.” Kline adds, “Not bad for $1.25 is it Fred?”

Beginning in 1936, Kline attended the Heatherley School of Fine Art in London, where his instructors included Frederic Whiting and Steve Spurrier. He also spent time visiting the city’s numerous museums and galleries, in particular the British Museum, and taking in the lively street action, recording his observations in his sketchbook. It was at Heatherley’s in early 1937 that Kline had the first, though unpublicized, solo show of his work. He returned to the U.S. aboard the S.S. Washington in February 1938, but Kline’s British experience would prove to have a profound effect on him; as Willem de Kooning would later say of Kline, “He was an Anglophile in a nice way...”

3.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Elizabeth & Franz”, 4pp on one leaf quarter-folded to 6” x 7.75”, New York, January 21, 1940. Kline speaks of having recently moved: “We’re both here trying to fix up a top floor with everything the old masters would have loved - cheap rent, lots of room, light, and silence after MacDougal St.” Kline moved to New York in late summer 1938, after being fired for falling through a bridal arrangement while doing a window display during a brief stay in Buffalo, NY. He initially shared an apartment with his London roommate, Frank Hahn, at 6 Jane Street, but soon moved to 146 MacDougal Street with Elizabeth Parsons, a ballet dancer whom he had met while both were at Heatherley’s. On December 5, 1938, Kline and Elizabeth were married in the Church of the Ascension in New York, with Hahn serving as best man. During this time, Kline briefly worked as a window display artist for Arnold Constable, and tried to sell illustrations to various magazines, including the New Yorker, but was mostly unsuccessful, and the couple were evicted from the MacDougal Street apartment for non-payment of rent. From here they moved to 71 West 3rd Street.

4.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 4pp, 9.25” x 12.5”, New York, April 24, 1940. With original mailing envelope. Kline tells of his precarious financial situation in New York: “Now here’s the set up down here - the same slow-up after Christmas descended here and things have been really bad! With the exception of a set of three miniatures, the sale of a few etchings, and a few framing jobs - there just hasn’t been any business to talk about. However I have used my time painting and I have a collection of small oils - which I intend to sell during the outdoor show - due soon!” Ryan had previously offered Kline work to help restore his old house in Massachusetts, and to also help out in Beatrice Ryan’s doll manufacturing business, which was overwhelmed with orders at the time, and Kline, after noting Elizabeth’s multiple illnesses over the winter, accepted the offer, stating: “I’m sure that getting out of New York for the summer would be the best thing - for both of us in fact!"

5.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Elizabeth & Franz”, 3pp, on two sheets of light blue stationery measuring 9.25” x 12.25, New York, June 2, 1940. Kline speaks of an outdoor art show he had participated in: “I sold an oil - $15. A $2 pen sketch...All the sales were bad…However, I did get the first prize award - in black and white - a pen sketch which will hang in the Whitney Modern Museum in the coming week and then join a traveling show to important eastern cities.” Kline also notes a job painting spots and airplanes for the ongoing World’s Fair: “this netted me $25”- which helped with ‘all these hanging debts that had to be paid’…” He also mentions a friend of his, a 75-year-old Dutch painter: “He’s dying in Bellevue Hospital with outstanding debts and canvases here and there with deposits of a few dollars on each. So I am rounding up his possessions and trying to cancel off his debts with sales of his work. Poor old chap - you’d love him Fred...”

6.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 4pp, on the recto and verso of two sheets measuring 9” x 11.75”, New York City, June 23, 1940. Kline speaks of trying to sell his Dutch friend’s watercolors: “I’m still waiting from payment from the dealer - If & when it comes totaling about $30. We’ll be able to give the landlady half and pack off…Then to add to it I didn’t get the prize money from the Washington Square Ass. This should amount to another $20 or so. We received your check Fred…” In the summer of 1940, Kline won a small monetary prize from the Whitney Museum of American Art for a pen and ink drawing he had submitted to the Washington Square Art Show. After winning the Whitney prize, Kline subsequently served on the show’s jury.

7.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 4pp on four sheets of tissue paper measuring 8.5” x 11”, New York City, July 1, 1940. With original mailing envelope. Kline apologizes for his delay in writing, but states he has good news regarding his prize from the art show: “I received the first prize money - $15 and the June rent has been payed [sic] - together with the fact that I sold six $2 watercolors of the west - paying half the grocery bill with a few necessary purchases and a supply of food…” He also speaks of trying to sell “the Holland + Belgium water colors…If by Friday they haven’t sold, I will take them to Wannamakers…they should bring $30 or $35…The living problem has been hell here during the winter -mainly because we have had to heat all our hot water - in a tea kettle!!!!!”

8.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 3pp on three leaves of onion skin measuring 8.5” x 11”, New York City, July 4, 1940. With original envelope marked “Air Mail / Special Delivery”. Kline speaks of the continuing situation causing the delay of his leaving to help Ryan in Massachusetts, and suggests that a friend go on ahead of him: “If you can Freddie - just send us down $10 by Saturday - then this friend of mine - John Erin...can take off by bus…I can follow…”

9.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz, your friend”, 2pp on two leaves of onion skin measuring 8.5” x 11”, New York City, July 11, 1940. Kline speaks more on the reasons for his delay: “...in trying to get things ready for my departure we have been most occupied and I’ve accomplished many mundane things. The studio is indeed in a more livable condition and now I feel Elizabeth can be comfortable in my absence.” He also states: “John understands your situation and I’m sorry to have misinterpreted your letter - however, I know you appreciate why and now that I can get away everything should be OK...” Kline would indeed make it to Hopkinton to stay with Ryan and his wife Bea, to spend his time painting, drawing, going to auctions, and buying low priced picture frames.

10.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 6pp on three sheets measuring 7.5” x 10”, New York City, undated, but ca. August 1940, written to Ryan shortly after Kline’s return to New York from Massachusetts. Kline speaks of a decorating job which “will amount to $75 or $80 which of course is nothing to be sneezed upon…The hope of selling the Dutch water colors looks rather bad since the Major put his tongue in the matter.” Kline was hired by the owner of the Bleecker Street tavern to “Paint me girls!”; he was paid five dollars each, plus canvas, to do ten panels. Between early 1939 and 1942, Kline would also paint murals for bars in Brooklyn and Hoboken.

11.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 4pp on four sheets of tissue paper measuring 8.5” x 11”, New York City, August 14, 1940. With original mailing envelope. Kline speaks of still waiting for the decorating job to begin and his enduring penury: “…the ever present living rate that never seems to be defeated…”

12.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 3pp, 8.5” x 11”, New York City, May 16, 1958. Kline writes three days before the opening of his show at Sidney Janis: “…with an exhibition in the back of my head for months I’ve been kinda beside myself. However everything is up in the gallery and the show starts on Monday. I’m sending off an announcement, or poster which I think is a little large…”


13.) Poster, “Preview of the Exhibition of New Paintings by Franz Kline”, 1p, 22” x 26”, franked, but postmark illegible. Exhibit runs from May 19 through June 14, 1958. Illustrated with black-and-white image of Kline painting on recto. Printed return address and exhibition information in blue on verso. Addressed in Kline’s hand to Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Ryan, East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Folded for use as a mailer, with some light weakness at folds. Tape repair at verso, with additional adhesive marks.

14.) Autograph Letter Signed, “Franz”, 4pp on two leaves measuring 8.5” x 11”, New York City, “Sunday PM”. Undated, but circa December 16, 1958 based on included mailing envelope. Kline reminisces of Boston and reflects on a news article which Ryan had sent him: “It seems so odd to be that abstract expressionist referred to. Of course, I’ve been here now for the past 20 years - here in the Village all the time wondering what painting is - wanting to paint - influenced like we all are by other painters and friends like us who follow the muse..."

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This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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