Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity, Stephen Foster, curator

The project’s objectives involve creating a comprehensive, twofold (catalogue and monograph) Kline publication which will concentrate on the post-1946/7 work and which would incorporate a definitive as possible cataloguing initiative of the paintings and works on paper from the late '40's to Kline's death in 1962 (for practical purposes, the Egan and Janis years). The project's resources are very considerable and represent the most comprehensive collection of images and information on Franz Kline assembled to date.

Stephen C. Foster, May, 2015

Photographs courtesy of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.




Kline Publications:

Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity. An exhibition composed of about 70 works accompanied by a book-length catalogue. Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, March18-June 5, 1994; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, July 8-September 11, 1994; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, September 27-November 21, 1994; Saarland Museum, Saarbrucken, December 11, 1994-February 5, 1995. 213 pages with 21 black and white illustrations and 71 full color plates. Bibliography and chronology.

"It is rare to find an exhibition catalogue that is of value beyond the baggage of obvious historical facts and souvenir reproductions. Stephen Foster's Whitechapel catalogue on Kline is a revelation, an important giving as inspiring to read as the Kline exhibition was to see. It makes clear how Kline was developing as a great classical artist and demonstrates his development within Abstract Expressionism."

Robert Natkin, Contemporary Arts

"Foster gives it [documentation] order and coherence by casting his material and Kline's work in some of the basic principles of today's intellectual concerns like context, language, meaning, biography, medium and aesthetics. Foster's is a masterful, sensitive, and intelligent unfolding of Kline's work from the inside, where "art is a process of growth."

Patricai Railing, The Art Book

Related Publications:

An American Odyssey, 1945/1980: Debating Modernism. An exhibition of one hundred thirty works accompanied by a book length (410 pp.) catalogue with all exhibited works reproduced full page, in color. Circulo de Bellas Artes,Madrid, April 13-May 30, 2004; Domus Artium 2002 (Salamanca), June 10-July 31, 2004; Kiosco Alfonso (A Coruna), September 2-October 2, 2004; QCC Art Gallery (Queens, New York), October 24-January 15, 2005.

The Critics of Abstract Expressionism (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1980, 1985).

Publications in Preparation:

Franz Kline (Two volume monograph and comprehensive catalogue)




Stephen Foster, Credentials

Stephen Foster has served the field widely in reviewing the scholarship of his peers (The National Endowment of the Humanities, The National Endowment of the Arts and the Getty Post-Doctoral Grant Program) and has administered and directed numerous fine arts and interdisciplinary cultural fine arts programs of international scope. His consulting activities have ranged from advising prominent private, public and corporate art collections to corporate and industry consulting.

Additionally, Foster has served as consultant and series editor for UMI Research Press' and Macmillan/G.K. Hall's fine arts publication programs. Numbering over sixty volumes, the UMI series (Studies in the Fine Arts: The Avant-Garde) represented an exhaustive revisionist study of twentieth century art history employing the expertise of many of today's most widely respected scholars. In addition, the ten volume G.K. Hall project (Crisis and the Arts: A History of Dada), described as the most comprehensive monograph on a movement ever undertaken, has set new standards for publication of its kind. In both of the above cases, Foster has managed and coordinated large teams of experts, numbering in the dozens, into systematic, coherent research and publication programs whose impact has been substantial and enduring.

As faculty involved in teaching and research at major art history programs since 1972 through 2001, he taught a full spectrum of twentieth century graduate courses and advanced seminars, supervised numerous M.A. and Ph.D. students through courses of study spanning all aspects of the history of twentieth century art, and has produced a distinguished record of broadly cited publications.

Publications include An American Odyssey, 1945/1980: Debating Modernism, 2000, with additional essays by Daniel Siedell, Estera Milman and John Yau (chronology by Janis Mink). Hans Richter: Activism, Modernism, and the Avant-Garde, contributing editor, 1998. Dada Cologne Hannover, contributing editor with Charlotte Stokes, 1997. Dada: The Coordinates of Cultural Politics, contributing editor,1996. Franz Kline: Art and the Structure of Identity, 1994. The Avant-Garde and the Text, eds. Stephen C. Foster and Estera Milman, 1988. "Event" Art and Art Events, contributing editor, 1988. The World According to Dada, 1988. Dada/Dimensions, contributing editor, 1985.Lettrisme: Into the Present, contributing editor, 1983. The Critics of Abstract Expressionism, 1980, 1985. Dada Spectrum, co-contributing editor with Rudolf Kuenzli, 1979. Intermedia, co-editor with Hans Breder, 1979. Dada Artifacts, with contributions by Richard Sheppard and Rudolf Kuenzli, 1978. His full resume is available upon request.

Foster received his Ph.D. in Art History from The University of Pennsylvania and has been the recipient of honors and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Endowment for the Arts, the Getty Grant Program, The Mellon Foundation, and the Smithsonian.