Zinc Yellow

These jagged black and yellow brushstrokes appear spontaneous, suggesting Zinc Yellow is a vigorous expression of Franz Kline’s inner world. In fact, the painting is the result of careful and deliberate planning, as indicated by Kline’s small oil study (see image). The effect is intensely exciting yet contemplative, primal yet refined—alluring tensions that would make Kline and the other Abstract Expressionists in this room the darlings of the mid-century art world.