Helen Frankenthaler

"One really beautiful wrist motion, that is synchronized with your head and heart, and you have it. It looks as if it were born in a minute." 

-Helen Frankenthaler

https://www.wsj.com/articles/growing-up-with-helen-frankenthaler-on-cape-cod

Helen Frankenthaler has long been an inspiration to me. As I have have embarked on a journey of abstract painting, I have looked to her as one of the masters of abstract expressionism. Frankenthaler was born in New York City in 1928. She attended Bennington College and graduated in 1949. Her work was being shown in exhibitions almost immediately after graduating and she quickly gained fame in the art world. She is one of the pioneers of the Color Field style of painting. 

Cool Summer, 1962, Oil on Canvas

Frankenthaler is known for taking her paints and watering them down and applying them in a way that almost looks like a watercolor painting. In doing this, she is creating different tones of color in areas depending on how watered down the paint is. The darker areas also contrast against the watered down areas. I find this method interesting because she is letting go of total control over the paint and letting parts of the final piece up to chance. She used colors that worked well together and placed them intentionally so that they would balance out one another. A true modernist, she experimented and created a method that was completely her own and that no one was doing before her.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum, 1973, Acrylic on Canvas

She often worked in large format and painted many abstract landscapes. An aspect that I love about her work is that it appears as if she worked extremely fast, as if she was inspired in that singular moment to create the piece. She often times worked on the floor because her pieces were so large. The movements she made with her body as she painted are visible. Frankenthaler's work was completely her own. I would love to get to that point in my own work where I am confident enough to just feel and paint in the moment.