Nature Abhors A Vacuum, Helen Frankenthraller

  Today let us look at an acrylic painting on canvas by American artist Helen Frankenthraller (1928-2011).   Nature Abhors a Vacuum is a huge work of art measuring 103" high, 112" wide.  This is over 8 feet high and 9 feet long!  You can stand next to it at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.; and to do so would completely immerse yourself in this huge spread of color.
  Nature Abhors a Vacuum was painted in 1973 and is a perfect example of a school of painting Frankenthraller helped develop called color field painting.  Here she stretched raw unprimed canvas on the floor and poured thinned acrylic paint on it.  In doing so she created floating fields of translucent color.  Being that the canvas was raw, the paint stuck to the fabric more like it was dyed, than brushed on. It was an exciting and new process!
   Our title, Nature Abhors a Vacuum immediately indicates a landscape, however I think it a disservice to confine our reaction to so simple an understanding.  Although the flowing shapes reference hills and rivers, the colors do not.  Three white lines divide the canvas horizontally creating two major zones and two very narrow slits at the top and bottom.  Only the repeating V shaped movements provide any true association to the land.  But what an interesting and appealing image!  Frankenthraller has a wonderful sense of dramatic color for here is a huge range: light to dark, dull to intense and exciting.
   I found a quote by Frankenthraller which I totally agree with and I have preached for years.  Here it is:  There are no rules.  That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen.  Go against the rules or ignore the rules.  That is what invention is about.
   Make Art a part of your life, it's a wonderful thing to do.

Comments

  1. charguthMarch 12, 2020 at 6:04 PM

    I looked at some of her other work and her quote surely applies. Dramatic shapes and colors make her paintings very interesting. She sometimes combined a variety of media such as oil, plaster and canvas.The three white lines in this one seem to give it balance and mystery. Abstracts always intrigue me as I try to interact emotionally and intellectually with the artists intention. It stretches my mind. (And makes me envious!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Art Expert On LineMarch 13, 2020 at 10:44 AM

    Great comments! It is an experience to relate emotionally and intellectually with abstract work, an experience of the best kind

    ReplyDelete
  3. KaspMarch 25, 2020 at 3:26 PM

    Great entry, Aunt Pat! I enjoyed learning more about H. Frankenthraller and this particular painting of hers.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wayne Thiebaud, Sunset Streets

Image
   In giving title to this landscape, California artist, Wayne Thiebaud not only provides the location, but also the time of day.  Knowing that Thiebaud is a California artist provides the last clue to guessing the probably location.  Smartly, The San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art purchased this painting for its permanent collection in 1986, a year after it was completed.  Sunset Streets is an oil on canvas measuring 48" x 35".      Wayne Thiebaud was born in 1920 and resides in California. He is one of several artists creating a distinct California aesthetic using heavy pigment and exaggerated color.   He is best known for his commonplace objects, figures, and landscapes. of which this is a perfect example.    The composition of this work is amazing.  Right down the center, at a slight tilt is this blue-black stripe, K shape, beginning with a heavy base and capped with a large triangle of sorts.  The painting is a geometry lover's dream, completely dedicated to ever
Read more

Childe Hassam "The Avenue in Rain"

Image
    I probably should have saved this for the 4th of July, but that is a little far off and this work is among Childe Hassam's finest.      I have known of Childe Hassam (1859 - 1935) for a very long time, but only recently did Wikimedia straighten me out about the correct way to pronounce his first name.  It seems the "e" is silent; and his last name is pronounced as written, with two syllables.        From what I have read, Hassam was a pretty sharp guy, and possibly a little  arrogant.  He created 3,000 some works of art in his career and lived his entire adult life on the proceeds of their sale.  This is quite remarkable.  Most artists, (at least before 1930) had to supplement their income by teaching, commissioned portraits or careers outside the art field.  But Hassam figured out not only how to market his work, but also what subjects would be popular.  Timing is always a big issue, and he was at the forefront of marketing impressionist paintings to Americans.      
Read more