Hot Jazz
Artist
Franz Kline
(American, 1910 - 1962)
CultureAmerican
Date1940
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions45 1/2 x 46 1/2 in. (115.6 x 118.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 53 × 54 × 3 1/2 in. (134.6 × 137.2 × 8.9 cm)
Other (Crate): 66 × 63 × 14 in. (167.6 × 160 × 35.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 53 × 54 × 3 1/2 in. (134.6 × 137.2 × 8.9 cm)
Other (Crate): 66 × 63 × 14 in. (167.6 × 160 × 35.6 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower right: KLINE 40 ;
Inscribed and monogrammed on the reverse: BAR ROOM PAINTING;
1940;
FK [in ligature]
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.1077
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. It is a scene set in a bar or tavern with a female singer dressed in a blue dress in the center. The musicians, in tuxedos, frame the singer: the saxophonist to her left, pianist and trumpet player behind her, and the drummer to her right, in the background. She is further set into the picture plane by the red arches of the interior room.Label TextFranz Kline American, 1910–1962 Hot Jazz, 1940 Oil on canvas Even before Franz Kline abandoned recognizable subject matter in the 1950s (as seen in the work to the right), his vibrant palette and quick brushwork gave raw energy to his works. In Hot Jazz, a torch singer cuts a sultry figure amid a raucous jazz band. As horns wail and spotlights buzz feverishly around her, her slinky blue dress melts down her body, pooling at her feet. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.1077 ProvenanceBleecker Street Tavern, New York, N.Y., 1940-1961; Ben Birillo, New York, N.Y., -1966; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., July 1966-1971; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Artist in the City," Swain School of Design, William W. Crapo Gallery, New Bedford, Mass., October 17 - November 22, 1968. (Exh. cat. no. 32) "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. (Exh. cat. p. 221) "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N.Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exh. cat. no. 42) "The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline in Retrospect," Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, November 27 - March 2, 1986; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Calif., April 17 - June 8, 1986; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Pa., June 26 - November 28, 1986. "I Got Rhythm: Kunst und Jazz seit 1920," Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, October 10, 2015 - March 6, 2016. Published ReferencesElaine de Kooning, "Two Americans in Action," _ARTnews_ 57, no. 7.2 (Christmas edition 1958): 86-94. _Artist in the City_, exh. cat., William W. Crapo Gallery, Swain School of Design, New Bedford, Mass., 1968, no. 34. Dennis R. Anderson, "Three New Paintings in Modern American Gallery," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 3 (June 1974): n.p. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 221. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya, _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_, exh. cat., Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1978, no. 42. Mahonri Sharp Young, "Primitive to Pop," _Apollo_ 107 (April 1978): 46-51, ill. James R. Gaines, ed., _The Lives of the Piano: A Consideration, a Celebration, a History and a Genealogy of Pianos and Their Friends_ (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1981), 145. Mona Hadler, "Jazz and the Visual Arts," _Arts Magazine_ 57, no. 10 (June 1983): 97-101. Harry F. Gaugh, _The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline_, exh. cat., Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1985, 34-39, 186, 189. Michael Brenson, "Art View: Franz Kline - A Legacy in Black and White," _The New York Times_ (Sunday, January 19, 1986): H29, 30. Michael Leonard, "Exhibitions Review: The Vital Gesture," _Artweek_ 17, no. 18 (May 10, 1986). Bill Berkson, "Kline's True Colors," _Art in America_ 74, no. 10 (October 1986): 137-144. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, 187, no. 141. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, _Franz Kline, 1910-1962_, exh. cat., Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Italy, 2004, 331, 375. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 194-195, no. 122. Patrick Coleman, ed., _The Art of Music_ (San Diego, CA: The San Diego Museum of Art, in association with Yale University Press, 2015) 50, fig. 39. Ulrike Groos, et. al., _I Got Rhythm: Art and Jazz since 1920_ (New York: Kunstmuseum Stuttgart in association with Prestel, 2015) 124. Sandra Benito Vélez, et. al., _El Arte de la Música_ (Mexico City: El Instituto Nacional del Bellas Artes with the San Diego Museum of Art, 2016) 54.
