Franz Kline Mural Comes to Allentown Art Museum

Mural by famed Abstract Expressionist artist Franz Kline

In 2012-13, Robert Mattison, Metzgar Professor of Art, organized the exhibition “Franz Kline: Coal and Steel” and wrote the accompanying catalog. The exhibition was the first to connect Kline, one of the most important American artists of the mid-twentieth century, to his roots in Pennsylvania anthracite coal country. The exhibition was shown at the Allentown Art Museum and subsequently in New York City where it was featured in an Art Section front page review in The New York Times.

Originating with Mattison’s urgings, Kline’s most important painting from his early Pennsylvania period, the 14-foot mural “Lehighton,” has been restored and moved from the site of its original commission, the Lehighton American Legion building, to the Allentown Art Museum. At the opening events on Feb. 27 and 28, 400 people came to see the work and hear Mattison lecture about Kline and his connections to Pennsylvania coal country.