Critical Response to Siegried (1958), Franz Kline

Description: There is a white background. Over this are many wide, rough brush strokes, which meet at the upper third of the painting in a slightly sloping line. Most of the background is covered by these black strokes. There are a few areas where there is grey painted over the black and white. This happens primarily in the upper left, where there is a large grey cross. There are also three faint grey lines running parallel to the line created by the meeting of the black strokes, in the bottom right corner.

Analysis: I think the mood that is meant to be created by the piece is danger and tumult. This is created by the sense of movement derived from diagonal lines and triangular shapes. This mood is also supported by the rough edges and the precarious-feeling balance. The lack of color makes the painting feel bleak. This is one of Kline's first paintings that uses grey. After this painting, he also began to experiment with colors. He was influenced by Pollock and de Kooning, and his childhood growing up in PA coal country. The title refers to Siegfried of Norse mythology, who destroyed the Norse gods (and later became a symbol for Nazis). It is likely that the tumultuous nature of the painting reflects these ideas.

Interpretation: I find this work attractive because it roils like an angry sea in a storm. This sort of action is of great interest to me within abstract expressionism because I find it evokes emotional experiences that realism does not. I can hang my own thoughts on a sea of forms, but not on Jesus Christ. The grey cross could be the gods being drowned and wiped out by the black. The cross is, however, much less dynamic than the other forms in the painting, and for this reason I feel it is not as successful as some other paintings. My eye wants to stop there and gets a little confused about where to go next, whereas in all the other forms, I feel I'm being directed across the canvas; to reflect across the chaos. The work has artistic merit, however, due to the strong reaction it creates in it's audience.