Helen Frankenthaler: Painting Without Rules
A giant canvas placed on the studio floor and then buckets of colour spilled onto it. You get the picture. You might immediately think of Jackson ‘The Dripper’ Pollock.
But this is Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) and while Pollock had a major impact on Frankenthaler, the results of their giant-canvas-on-the-floor methods are oceans apart. In contrast to the bold heroics of the drip paintings, Frankenthaler’s paintings have an ineffable lightness of touch, an almost mystical quality and in their use of layering are closer to Rothko than Pollock. Rothko’s luminous canvases made a strong impression on Frankenthaler who went on to develop a technique known as soak-stain which involved applying paint diluted with thinners onto vast unprimed canvases, creating effects is some ways similar to watercolours.
She used brushes and sponges, or just poured the paint directly allowing it to spread and blend naturally, creating subtle and unique chromatic interactions. She was a master of soft edges and translucent overlays.
The current show of Frankenthaler’s work at the iconic Guggenheim Bilbao includes works produced between 1953 and 2002 and places them in dialogue with paintings and sculptures by some of her contemporaries including Jackson Pollock, Anthony Caro, Kenneth Noland and Mark Rothko.
