Paintings '' 1952 Oil and charcoal on unsized, unprimed canvas, on extended loan to the
National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DCFrankenthaler's official artistic career as a painter was launched in 1952 with the exhibition of
Mountains and Sea. Throughout the 1950s, her works tended to be centered compositions. In general, this term refers to the application of large areas, or fields, of color to the canvas. This style was characterized by the use of hues that were similar in tone or intensity, as well as large formats and simplified compositions, all of which are qualities descriptive of Frankenthaler's work from the 1960s onward. Beginning in 1963, Frankenthaler began to use acrylic paints rather than oil paints because they allowed for both opacity and sharpness when put on the canvas. By the 1970s, she had done away with the soak stain technique entirely, preferring thicker paint that allowed her to employ bright colors almost reminiscent of
Fauvism. Throughout the 1970s, Frankenthaler explored the joining of areas of the canvas through the use of modulated hues, and experimented with large, abstract forms.
Works on paper While she is best known for her large-scale canvases, her works on paper constitute a significant and dynamic aspect of her oeuvre. These works, spanning drawings, watercolors, gouaches, and prints, reveal her innovative approach to color, form, and medium, offering intimate insights into her creative process. Frankenthaler's works on paper are not mere preparatory studies but stand as fully realized expressions of her artistic vision, showcasing her mastery of fluidity, transparency, and improvisation. Frankenthaler's engagement with paper began in her youth and continued through her studies at Bennington College. Her early drawings from the 1940s, often executed in charcoal, ink, or pastel, display a lyrical abstraction with fluid lines and organic forms. These works reflect her exploration of automatism and her interest in artists like
Arshile Gorky and
Joan Miró. By the 1950s, Frankenthaler began experimenting with watercolor and gouache, mediums that allowed her to explore the translucency and spontaneity that would define her mature style. Her invention of the soak-stain technique in 1952 had a profound impact on her works on paper. She adapted this method to paper, pouring diluted paint onto unprimed surfaces, allowing colors to bleed and merge. During the 1960s, Frankenthaler's works on paper became increasingly ambitious, paralleling the scale and complexity of her canvases. She embraced a variety of techniques, including acrylic, watercolor, and ink, often combining them in single compositions. Her paper works from this period, exhibit bold color fields and gestural marks, with a balance of control and spontaneity. In the 1970s and 1980s, Frankenthaler's works on paper grew more diverse and experimental, incorporating collage elements, stencils, and mixed media. These works highlight her willingness to push the boundaries of the medium, treating paper as a space for both delicate nuance and robust experimentation. In the later 1980s, Frankenthaler's works on paper became more immediate. With this immediacy she allowed and welcomed the risk of imperfection more so than with her painting. This became a means of discovery that introduced new energy into all aspects of her art. Her
From the Turret series of works on paper were inspired by the view from the turret of her Connecticut studio. The stormy landscape in
From the Turret IX was painted with immediacy and evokes a blue sea with a cloudy and windy sky. In her later years, Frankenthaler's works on paper retained their vitality while adopting a more introspective tone. Her watercolors and acrylics from the 1990s, feature color washes and subtle gradients, evoking landscapes or emotional states. Frankenthaler's late works on paper often blur the line between drawing and painting, as seen in her use of colored pencils and crayons alongside fluid washes. These pieces convey a sense of intimacy and directness, reflecting her lifelong commitment to exploring the expressive potential of her materials.
Prints Frankenthaler recognized a need to continually challenge herself to develop as an artist. For this reason, in 1961, she began to experiment with printmaking at the Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), a lithographic workshop in West Islip, Long Island. Frankenthaler collaborated with
Tatyana Grosman in 1961 to create her first prints. In 1976, Frankenthaler began to work within the medium of woodcuts. She collaborated with
Kenneth E. Tyler. The first piece they created together was
Essence Mulberry (1977), a woodcut that used eight different colors.
Essence Mulberry was inspired by two sources: the first was an exhibition of fifteenth century woodcuts that Frankenthaler saw on display at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the second being a mulberry tree that grew outside of Tyler's studio. Frankenthaler completed a print entitled
Earth Slice in 1978, appropriately titled due to its earthy tones and allusions of geological layers.
Earth Slice is among the most experimental intaglio prints produced by her. She began experimenting with the image in December 1976 and completed work on the subject in 1978, producing numerous working proofs which show her aesthetic decision-making process. The print combines soft-ground etching, sugar-lift etching, and aquatint techniques, executed on Mauve handmade paper. The composition features earthy tones—browns, ochres, and hints of green—suggesting a natural landscape or terrain. The fluid, organic forms and textural qualities evoke the essence of land and earth, reflecting Frankenthaler's mastery in blending abstraction with elements of the natural world. From 1985 to 1987, Frankenthaler made a series of ten prints at Tyler Graphics, Ltd. The catalogue of prints she made at Tyler Graphics includes:
Blue Current (1987),
Tribal Sign (1987),
Ochre Dust (1987), ''Tiger's Eye
(1987), In the Wings
(1987), Corot's Mark
(1987), Walking Rain
(1987), Sudden Snow
(1987), Day One (1987)
, and Yellow Jack
(1987). These prints were exhibited in Helen Frankenthaler Prints: 1985–1987'' at Tyler Graphics, Mount Kisco, New York (March 14–April 10, 1987) and then traveled to LA Louver, Los Angeles, CA (June 20–July 25, 1987). In 1995, Frankenthaler and Tyler collaborated again, creating
The Tales of Genji, a series of six woodcut prints. To create woodcuts with a resonance similar to Frankenthaler's painterly style, she painted her plans onto the wood itself, making maquettes.
The Tales of Genji took nearly three years to complete. Frankenthaler then went on to create
Madame Butterfly, a print that employed one hundred and two different colors and forty-six woodblocks. ==Awards and legacy==