Frankenthaler, Helen (1928-2011), was a leading American painter. In the 1950’s, working in the Abstract Expressionist style, Frankenthaler developed a painting technique called soak-stain. Frankenthaler poured very thin paint directly onto the raw canvas. As the paint soaked into the canvas, staining it with color, texture was eliminated and the flatness in the canvas surface was emphasized.
The lyrical interaction of forms and colors in Frankenthaler’s paintings illustrates the physical process of their creation. Colors run into one another and forms seem to overlap through the different stainings. Some areas of Frankenthaler’s harmonious, well-balanced compositions remain unstained, which further illustrates the lack of separation between the paint and canvas surface. Most of Frankenthaler’s paintings have a narrative title, such as Mountains and Sea. Frankenthaler was also a printmaker. She was born on Dec. 12, 1928, in New York City. Frankenthaler died on Dec. 27, 2011.
