Helen Frankenthaler was one of the major painters of
Post-war American Abstract Expressionism. Frankenthaler recently passed away in
2011 at the age of 83 in her home in Connecticut. She was raised in a wealthy,
Jewish family along with her two elder sisters in Manhattan. Her parents
recognised her talent for art and sent her to progressive, experimental schools
when she was a child. As a family, the Frankenthaler’s took many trips in the
summer where Frankenthaler developed her love for landscape, nature and the
sky. Her father was a judge at New York State Supreme Court and he sadly died of
cancer when Frankenthaler was just 11 years old. This traumatic event sent her
into a four-year period of unhappiness in which she suffered intense migraines.
I think that Frankenthaler’s progression into art can be seen as a homage to
her father as he is one of the people who supported her in pursuing her talents
when she was young. Perhaps, Frankenthaler used this as a coping mechanism of
her loss by painting the places she visited with her father and places she
visited day-to-day.
Frankenthaler studied art at Dalton School in New York and
Bennington College in Vermont. She was inspired by Jackson Pollock in the mid
1950’s and worked as a set and costume designer in the 1980’s for productions
by England’s Royal Ballet. She has taught at top universities including;
Harvard, New York University, Princeton and Yale. Her work is held at The
Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. The
Jewish Museum in New York hosted her first retrospective exhibition in 1960.
Frankenthaler worked with many painters throughout her lifetime such as Lee
Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline. She was married to
Motherwell until 1971.
Mountains and Sea
– 1952
oil paint and charcoal on untreated canvas 219.4 x
297.8cm
Frankenthaler’s work is based on real and imaginary
landscapes. As I have visited a few places in the past couple of weeks, for
example, Shrewsbury and Hebden Bridge, I think I can use these places as
inspiration to my work like Frankenthaler did. As well as her 2D paintings,
Frankenthaler additionally has worked with ceramics, prints, welded steel
sculpture and illustrated books. She is most well-known for her paintings in
which she invented the ‘soak-stain’ technique. This is where you pour
turpentine-thinned oil paint/watered-down acrylic paint onto untreated canvas
producing luminous colours on a canvas that is lay on the floor. As I do not
use oil paint at home, I will be able to begin experimenting with this
technique using acrylic paint. Frankenthaler also help launch the second
generation of Colour Field painting (which originally sprung in the 1940’s)
with Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, which is characterised by large fields of
colour and the absence of figurative motifs, often suggesting a yearning for
the infinite. Colour Field painting produces airy compositions which celebrate
the joys of pure colour and a need for transcendence. Colour Field art is
recognised as an important precursor of the 1960’s movement of Minimalism due
to its spare, meditative nature. The ideas of this soon lost its popularity to
new, stronger forces such as Pop Art and Minimalism.
Frankenthaler’s work identifies the natural landscape,
whether that be the arid terrain of Southwest America, a mulberry tree in New
York or the Long Island Sound which could be viewed from her home in Darien,
Connecticut. Long Island Sound is the tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean and lies
between the Northern shore of Long Island, the Eastern shore of Bronx County, the
Southern shores of Westchester county and Connecticut, stretching a vast 110
miles from the East River in New York City.
Frankenthaler in her New York Studio
Picture taken from : https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/80/59/d3/8059d38f98d904bba3790e7d29ea1a5e.jpg
Upon returning home from Nova Scotia, Frankenthaler created
‘Mountains and Sea’ using the ‘soak-stain’ technique. I am keen to try out
using this technique as it is new to me, so I will be able to expand the range
of ways that I use different mediums. Frankenthaler has manipulated the oil
paint in this composition using window wipers, sponges and charcoal outlines.
In this composition, Frankenthaler uses oil paint that has been thinned with
turpentine, therefore producing muted washes of colour. The background has a
slight wash of yellow and pink which suggests an expansive space, possibly the
sky. Also, I think these colours could be representing the calming mood at
dusk. The other colours included are primary colours such as blue, red and
yellow and one secondary colour, green. The washes of red appear more towards
the colour pink as the paint has been thinned. In the areas of colour, some
tone is present as collections of pigment have created tone within the section.
The red in the centre creates a focal point - relating to the title I cannot
think of anything typically figurative that this could be representing so I
think it is providing an emotion, for example her passion and love of nature
which many of her artworks are based upon. The colour is almost encapsulated by the
charcoal lines; however, the colour has bled slightly over them because of its
thin consistency.
The blue in the composition could be representing the sea or icy mountain peaks. The tints of blue could represent the vast sky as the thin paint suggests how this area is extremely large. Furthermore, coming down the piece, the lighter sections of blue could portray the sun reflecting of the sea’s water. Whereas, the shades of blue could connote the depths of the Atlantic Ocean which surrounds Nova Scotia. In the centre of the piece there are sail-like shapes created by the charcoal outlines. The charcoal outlines are one single line, displaying how a quick fluid movement has been used to make them. To replicate this I could use continuous line to ensure that only a single line is used as I wouldn’t want too much control over the shape. In some parts of the composition there are circular dabs of paint which creates a stippling collection of tone which fade out towards the end of the line – this could have been achieved using a dry sponge. There isn’t a lot of texture in this composition because the ‘soak-stain’ technique means that the paint isn’t being layered or built up, it is rather becoming part of the canvas.
The blue in the composition could be representing the sea or icy mountain peaks. The tints of blue could represent the vast sky as the thin paint suggests how this area is extremely large. Furthermore, coming down the piece, the lighter sections of blue could portray the sun reflecting of the sea’s water. Whereas, the shades of blue could connote the depths of the Atlantic Ocean which surrounds Nova Scotia. In the centre of the piece there are sail-like shapes created by the charcoal outlines. The charcoal outlines are one single line, displaying how a quick fluid movement has been used to make them. To replicate this I could use continuous line to ensure that only a single line is used as I wouldn’t want too much control over the shape. In some parts of the composition there are circular dabs of paint which creates a stippling collection of tone which fade out towards the end of the line – this could have been achieved using a dry sponge. There isn’t a lot of texture in this composition because the ‘soak-stain’ technique means that the paint isn’t being layered or built up, it is rather becoming part of the canvas.
By studying Frankenthaler’s work, I have been inspired to look
at the places I visit and my experiences as more significant rather than not
including it in my work. I think I need to look at my day-to-day life more
closely as this would be beneficial because it would help me to delve into my
personal investigation more, rather than choosing a broader topic from the
beginning.
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