Sunday, December 1, 2013

Helen Frankenthaler

My drawing, Lorelei, and Helen painting
I first became aware of Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) in the 1960s when I purchased the art book Nature in Abstraction which included her 1957 painting “Lorelei.”  Helen was a real beauty and many of her early paintings had an enchanting feminine lyricism about them.  I followed her career from then on and have admired her ambition, but as her work matured it lost its lyricism and no longer held much attraction for me (Reminds me of my following of Bob Dylan).  I fondly remember her as one of the first abstract painters to get me enthused about painting.  In the world of art history she is recognized for a variety of abstract painting approaches as well as color field painting.