Art: Energy in Black and White

"Franz Kline: The Vital Gesture," which runs through March 2 at the Cincinnati Art Museum, is one of a lengthening list of distinguished exhibitions that will not be seen in New York City. No doubt, in one way, this only confirms that curators west of the Hudson can act without the writ of the Manhattan art world--no bad thing, considering some of the ways in which that writ has lately run. And yet for New York, it is a striking and rather ironic omission. Franz Kline (1910-62) is the only original member of the New York school whose work has never...