Which artist is known for large black-and-white gestural paintings?

Franz Kline is known for large black-and-white gestural paintings.

Kline’s stark compositions use broad black strokes against pale grounds, creating energetic forms that can resemble fragments of machinery, architecture, or calligraphy. Their apparent spontaneity made him a major figure in the gestural wing of Abstract Expressionism.

He gained wider attention in New York during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Kline often projected small sketches onto a larger scale, a fact that complicates the popular idea that his monumental brushwork was purely improvised. His best-known paintings were carefully considered even when they retain the force and immediacy of a single gesture.

Kline is sometimes grouped with Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock because all three are associated with Abstract Expressionism, but their signatures differ. Pollock is especially linked with poured and dripped paint, while de Kooning frequently combined aggressive brushwork with recognizable figures. Kline’s black-and-white contrasts became his most recognizable visual language, although he also made paintings in color.