Helen Frankenthaler

HiRES_Getty_Frankenthaler
tumblr_ljvbkbXuyZ1qhjo77o1_1280I’ve been thinking about Helen Frankenthaler lately, an American abstract expressionist painter, if you’re not familiar. She’s most famous for Color Field painting characterized by large fields of flat, solid color spread across the canvas creating areas of unbroken surface. I am so taken with her colors and the gesture of her brush strokes and as you can see below, her hand strokes. Frankenthaler often painted onto unprimed canvas with oil paints diluted with turpentine allowing for the colors to soak directly into the canvas, creating a translucent effect resembling watercolor.

I love this quote that can be applied to the practice of creating art or simply living life:

“You have to know how to use the accident, how to recognise it, how to control it, and ways to eliminate it so that the whole surface looks felt and born all at once.” -Helen Frankenthaler Helen-Frankenthaler-Gagosian

Search

Books