{{short description|American contemporary artist (born 1943)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Stephen Kline | image = Kline Florida Art Plate.jpg | birth_name = Stephen Neil Kline | birth_date = {{birth date|1943|12|12|mf=y}} | birth_place = Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. | known_for = Painting, Drawing, Photography | notable_works = Florida State-of-the-Arts license plate, ''Lines of Language'' paintings and drawings (over 125 dog breed lithographs drawn from the breed's name). | training = Drake University | movement = Lines of Language }} '''Stephen Kline''' (born 1943) is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in acrylics and ink.
==Early life==
Born in 1943 in Des Moines, Iowa, Kline spent his early years with his parents and older sister Martha in a small house on the east side of Des Moines. As a junior in high school, he designed the senior class yearbook cover for East Des Moines High School before graduating the following year and attending Drake University,<ref name="BlairKamin">{{Cite news |last=Kamin |first=Blair |date=December 28, 1985 |title=Gallery pulls Iowan's Madonna painting |pages=3 |work=The Des Moines Register |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112390045/the-des-moines-register/ |access-date=November 1, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Heinlein |first=Gary |date=November 23, 1979 |title=Game Makes Sport of Middle-Class Life |pages=3 |work=Des Moines Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112390244/des-moines-tribune/ |access-date=November 1, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> where he studied art under Stan Hess and Leonard Good. After college, he accepted a position with former LOOK Magazine in their art department.<ref name="BlairKamin" />
==Beginning career==
In 1964, Kline moved to Omaha, Nebraska where his fine art was first accepted in a museum show: the Tenth Midwest Biennial <ref>"Tenth Midwest Biennial," Joslyn Art Museum, (Exhibition Catalog) March 10, 1968, p. 13.</ref> at the Joslyn Museum,<ref>Leonard Thiessen, "Art in the Midlands: You Don't Forget Brancusi!," Sunday World Herald Magazine (Omaha, NE), 5 April 1970, p. 36.</ref> Omaha, Nebraska. Commercially, he moved quickly from the Omaha World Herald art department through a succession of advertising agencies,<ref>"Business Topics: Kline Is Art Director," Omaha World-Herald, 19 June 1968, p. 64.</ref> landing a job with Bozell & Jacobs Advertising.
In 1973, he and his writer wife Kris Limberg Kline began Kline Photography Studios, which produced both fine arts and commercial photography. During this period, Stephen was one of the leading pioneers of panoramic photography<ref>"Steve Kline: The Whole Is Greater Than The Parts," PENTAX life, VOL. 11 NO. 2 Summer 1989, p. 17.</ref><ref>Kris Kline ''Sight & Sound'', photomethods (magazine), Oct. 1984, p. 35.</ref> in multimedia. Meanwhile, he used every spare moment to pursue his fine arts career.
In 1982, they moved their family to Westfield, NJ. Kline was soon accepted as a gallery artist at Foxworth Gallery on Madison Ave.<ref>Aline Franzen, "Money Makes the World Go Round, Manhattan (magazine), Vol. 3 Number 8, p. 34.</ref> in Manhattan, where his work made headlines when his provocative painting Madonna and Child caused street demonstrations in 1985,<ref name="BlairKamin" /> It was in this period when he began combining his painting and photography into one medium. ''Portrait of a Painter'' was chosen for the 1987 New Jersey Arts Annual<ref>"New Jersey Arts Annual - Printmaking & Photography," Jersey City Museum, (Exhibition Catalog) April 11, 1987, p. 21.</ref> at the Jersey City Museum, and his photo/art piece of Isaac Asimov was printed in Communicator's Journal.<ref>Isaac Asimov, "Write, Write, Write," Communicator’s Journal, Volume 1 Number 1, May/June 1983, p. 41.</ref>
== Art drawn from words==
Two years after relocating to Ellenton, FL in 1991, Kline painted his first [http://americanmade.marthastewart.com/profiles/stephen-kline-2508 ''Lines of Language''] painting, signing his name over and over. Titled ''3795 Signatures'',<ref name="Thurston">{{cite news |last=Thurston |first=Susan |date=May 10, 2002 |title=Artistically evolving |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/10/Citytimes/Artistically_evolving.shtml |accessdate=January 6, 2013}}</ref> the abstract was chosen for the 1994 Florida National,<ref>"1994 Florida National," Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, (Exhibition Catalog) 1994</ref> Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, Florida.
It was also in 1994 that Kline designed the [http://www.tampaarts.com/Services.aspx Florida State of the Arts license plate].<ref>"Florida: State of the Arts," Art in America, May 1996, p. 31.</ref><ref>Eydie Cubarrubia "Art Drive," Bradenton Herald, April 2, 1996, p. 1.</ref>
In 1999, Kline created his first realistic drawing using his new Lines of Language technique to create an [http://americanmade.marthastewart.com/profiles/stephen-kline-2508 image of Santa] out of the words ''Season's Greetings''. He had his drawing printed as a lithograph, added additional words with gold and silver applied pen-and-ink to individualize each piece, and sent them out to family, friends, business associates and patrons. The next year, when he noticed how many recipients had framed the art, he decided to use his Lines of Language technique to create his first dog lithograph.<ref>Kris Kline, "$98,000 Bulldog," Dog & Kennel (magazine), August 2001, p. 46.</ref> Throughout the next several years, Kline has drawn over 125 breeds.
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Stephen Kline panorama of Central Park.jpg|This multiple image photograph was made in Central Park, New York City. The viewer will see the same person several times throughout the print. File:Bulldog art drawn from words by Kline.jpg|Kline's art written from the word [http://drawdogs.com/general/649/] over and over. File:2795 Kline Signatures.jpg|Kline's painting 3795 Signatures. File:Stephen_Kline_public_art_painting_The_Solicitor.jpg|PUBLIC ART: Kline's painting the Solicitor hangs in the office of the Chief Judge of Hillsborough County, Florida, purchased by Hillsborough County for their permanent collection.[http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/index.aspx?NID=2138]. File:Stephen_Kline_public_art_painting_"Red,_White_and_Blue_Stars_and_Stripes".jpg|PUBLIC ART: Kline's painting,"Red, White, and Blue Stars and Stripes," is on public view in Hillsborough County Center, purchased for the county's permanent collection. </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * [https://www.famebooking.com/blog/interview-with-florida-artist-stephen-kline "Interview with Florida Artist Stephen Kline"] Fame Booking July 18, 2019 * [http://www.florida-arts.org/getinvolved/artsplate "Florida Arts License Plate"] Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Jan. 7, 2013 * [http://www.e-junkie.info/2011/09/interview-with-stephen-kline-creating.html "Interview With Stephen Kline, Creating Dogs Portraits With The Text Of Their Breeds"] E-JUNKIE.INFO, Jan. 7, 2013 * [http://www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominee/79551 "Stephen Kline"] Martha Stewart Presents American Made Awards, Jan. 7, 2013 * [http://erinrac.com/main/magsarticle.php?sectionid=81&item=505 "Stephen Kline - Unique Artist"] CANINE COLLECTABLES COURIER, retrieved Jan. 7, 2013
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kline, Stephen}} Category:1943 births Category:Dog artists Category:American photographers Category:Artists from Des Moines, Iowa Category:American contemporary painters Category:20th-century American painters Category:American male painters Category:American draughtsmen Category:Living people Category:20th-century American male artists