Fred R. Kline

Fred R. Kline (November 3, 1939 – September 11, 2021) was an American art historian, writer, poet, sculptor, private art dealer and public gallerist in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was known for his discoveries of lost art, including paintings, drawings and sculpture by Old Masters as well as 19th and 20th-century American and European artists. Many of his discoveries have been acquired by prominent museum, corporate and private collections around the world.

Kline called himself an "art explorer", one who brings an informed eye and open mind to a sleuth-like adventure of acquiring vanished masterpieces and restoring their identities (see link below:New York Times, 4.2.2002:"An Art Explorer Finds the Real Creators of Works"). He unearthed notable works by important artists in auctions, estate sales, antique and art galleries, and in the most unlikely resale shops and flea markets. He stressed evidence-supported connoisseurship, intuition and imagination, and a qualitative eye in analyzing art that rests final identification of an artist's work on signature comparative details. He cited as influential mentors: art historian connoisseurs Bernard Berenson (who was also in partnership with noted fine art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen) and Sir Kenneth Clark; philosopher and scientist Albert Einstein (a distant cousin); mythologist and teacher Joseph Campbell; art critic Robert Hughes; and fine art dealer, connoisseur and philanthropist Eugene Victor Thaw. Provided by Wikipedia