1939
Moving to New York and working for a scenic designer
In 1939 Kline moves to New York City and works for a scenic designer. It is here that he develops his artistic techniques and gains recognition as a significant artist; in the late 1930s and early 1940s he paints figurative landscapes and cityscapes as well as commissioned portraits and murals.
1948
Projecting a sketch on the wall: de Kooning's advice
According to Elaine de Kooning, in 1948 Willem de Kooning advises an artistically frustrated Kline to project a sketch onto his studio wall with a Bell-Opticon projector: a four-by-five-inch black drawing of a rocking chair swells into gigantic strokes, and it is widely believed that Kline then turns to large-scale abstract works. Willem himself conceded that working out this vision took considerable time.
1948–1950
The turn to black-and-white abstraction
Over the next two years Kline's brushstrokes become completely non-representative, fluid and dynamic, and he begins painting only in black and white: for him the white is just as important as the black. Viewers also see references to Japanese calligraphy in these paintings, through his exchange with the avant-garde group Bokujinkai and its leader Morita Shiryu, although Kline later denied the connection.
16 October – 4 November 1950
First solo show at the Charles Egan Gallery
At the Charles Egan Gallery in New York Kline's first one-man show opens: eleven abstract paintings with very little colour — brown underpainting near the bottom of “Nijinsky” and fleeting hints of green in “Leda”. Afterwards he is dubbed the “black and white artist”, a label by which he sometimes feels restricted.
1956
The Venice Biennale
Kline's work is included in the Venice Biennale, the first of two appearances (the second is in 1960).
1957
The São Paulo Biennial
Kline's work is included in the São Paulo Biennial.