What's one artist or work of art that really changed your thinking or understanding of art? For me, it was the work of Franz Kline. (short thread)

In high school I received no formal art education, despite being in art class every year. The teacher never showed us a single work of art. All he would do is set up a basic still life and say "draw that." And, we'd draw the same damn still life for a month.

So, naturally, I thought that was the only kind of art. Well, I was aware of abstract art, but it was all nonsense to me. It wasn't until art school (RISD) that I was really exposed to abstract art in a way I could understand, by a wonderful teacher, Brice Hobbs.

He sat down with me and showed me the wonderful works of Franz Kline. He challenged me to think about how those marks ended up on the canvas. What was the process? How could he say so much with gestures? Didn't the paintings feel alive?

It was kind of eye-opening. I'll always have a soft-spot for Franz Kline's work, but understanding it opened the door for me to appreciate so many different kinds of art.