Helen Frankenthaler 1923-2011 Photograph of Helen Frankenthaler by Gordon Parks, 1956 for an article in Life Magazine. Before we begin, can anyone tell me which artist we looked at last month? (Edgar Degas) Can you remember anything about his art? Today we are going to talk about Helen Frankenthaler, an artist who worked in the 20th century. Who was Helen Frankenthaler? She was born in New York City in 1928. She came from a wealthy family who liked to travel. By the time she turned 16 she knew she wanted to be an artist. She studied to be an artist in high school and then in college. She returned to New York after college where she set up her studio. She was part of a group of artists all working in a similar STYLE called ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM. They painted BIG paintings like the ones you see here that focused on color, shape & line instead of recognizable subjects. Frankenthaler had early success and even had an article written about her in a famous magazine. She was photographed a lot throughout her long career. She died at age 83 in 2011.

Swan Lake II, Helen Frankenthaler, 1951, oil on canvas, 7’5 1/8” x 7’9 ¾”, private collection. There is no title on this slide on purpose so the kids don’t know what this represents right away. BIG IDEA #1: Frankenthaler worked in a style we call ABSTRACT What does ABSTRACT mean when we talk about a work of art? It means there is no immediately recognizable subject Frankenthaler wasn’t interested in painting things as they looked She wanted the colors and shapes to be the subject of her work QUESTIONS: Can you see anything you recognize in this painting? Talk about the title and ask the kids if they can find the swan shapes What kinds of colors does Frankenthaler use? Can point out all the primary colors How would you describe the shapes? Do you know what positive and negative shapes are? (positive = the shapes made by the colors/negative = the shapes formed be the spaces in between)

Mountains & Sea, oil & charcoal on unsized, unprimed canvas , 1952 Mountains & Sea, Helen Frankenthaler, 1952, oil & charcoal on unsized, unprimed canvas, 7’ x 10’, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, on extended loan to National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. BIG IDEA #2: Frankenthaler made up a new way of painting. She was inspired by other artists to put her canvas directly on the floor instead of upright on an easel. She had the idea to STAIN the canvas with thinned oil paint so that the colors SOAKED into the fabric rather than sit on top of it. This became known as the “SOAK-STAIN” technique She focused on the materials used to make the painting She also didn’t want to hide that the painting is a flat surface. The colors and shapes she used were inspired by a trip to Nova Scotia in Canada where there is a rocky coastline. In fact she thought of her paintings as “landscapes” even though they don’t represent it as it actually looks. This work is like being in a landscape – it measures 7’ x 9’ QUESTIONS: Can you imagine how it would feel standing in front of a painting this big? (You can! It is at the National Gallery!) Do you see anything in this painting that looks like part of a landscape? (point out the right side where it looks like the horizon over the water with mountains rising up like the coast of Nova Scotia) Do you see different ways of applying the paint? – big, flat areas, areas where paint is spattered, areas where it drips. She also uses charcoal to draw on the canvas. Do you see where? What makes these lines and shapes seem like mountains? How does this painting look like the sea? Mountains & Sea, oil & charcoal on unsized, unprimed canvas , 1952

Photograph of Helen Frankethaler by Ernst Haas, 1969. In these photos you can see Frankenthler at work. Sometimes her canvases were so large there was barely enough room to walk around the edge of them. Frankenthaler was always experimenting with how to apply the paint. She used coffee pots, brushes, sponges, cloths, and her hands. In this way she could create different textures, drips, swirls of color, and imply movement. The way she painted was very active and physical.

Mother Goose Melody, oil on unsized, unprimed canvas, 1959 Mother Goose Melody, Helen Frankenthaler, 1959, oil on unsized, unprimed canvas, 6’8” x 8’6”, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA. BIG IDEA #3: Frankenthaler picked titles that suggest what her paintings are about from shapes that appeared to her after she made them or places she was thinking of. For the artist the three brown shapes on the right were she and her 2 sisters. To her the red and black lines looked like a stork. She said the whole painting had a “nursery-rhyme feeling”. QUESTIONS: What do you think about this title and what you see in the painting? What about the word “melody” in the title? Do you think there is something musical about the painting? Can we describe the shapes as flowing in areas like music? What do you think about the colors? She uses the 3 main primary colors Mother Goose Melody, oil on unsized, unprimed canvas, 1959

Canyon, acrylic on canvas, 1965 Canyon, Helen Frankenthaler, 1965, acrylic on canvas, 3’6” x 4’3”, Phillips Collection of American Art, Washington D.C. BIG IDEA #4: Frankenthaler started using acrylic paints because she could control them more easily than oil paint Acrylic paint (man-made) was a relatively new MEDIUM when Frankenthaler made this painting. She liked the way the acrylic left clean edges around her shapes Oil paint would leave a lighter border or “halo” around her shapes (you can go back to the previous painting to show this) She also like the bright quality of acrylics Frankenthaler was part of a group of artists called COLOR FIELD PAINTERS. They are known for the flat, two-dimensional quality of their paintings with big areas of color. The big size of their paintings surround us with large colorful shapes, similar to the way the ocean or the sky is all around us. And like nature the shapes are irregular forms, with no straight edges like geometric shapes. QUESTION: Frankenthaler was interested in expressing her emotions through color. What feelings do you think this painting represents? Do you see layers in this painting? Canyon, acrylic on canvas, 1965

Summer Harp, Acrylic on canvas, 1973 Helen Frankenthaler, Summer Harp, 1973, Acrylic on canvas, 9’ x 6’, 1973, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Frankenthaler wasn’t only interested in the ways color could express emotion. She also used color to create different spaces in her works QUESTION: Do some colors appear to come forward while others recede into the distance? Summer Harp, Acrylic on canvas, 1973

Star Gazing, acrylic on canvas, 1989 Star Gazing, Helen Frankenthaler, 1989, acrylic on canvas, 6’ x 12’, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. Frankenthaler’s style changed over her long career Her personal experiences and memories of landscapes and nature continued to inspire her She continued to paint on a big scale – this is 6 feet high & 12 feet wide! She died in 2011 at age 83, but her experimental painting methods and abstract artwork influenced many artists. QUESTION: Is this painting similar or different from the others we have seen? How or why? Star Gazing, acrylic on canvas, 1989

Today you are going to experiment with paint & watercolor pencils using different tools to apply the paint to create works inspired by Frankenthaler. Look at these examples. Your works will either go in an art show at the Greater Reston Art Center or up in the halls at Sunrise Valley during Youth Art Month in March.