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Label Text Sky Farm emphasizes color relationships and the edges created where shapes meet. The forms and subtle color graduations of the work seem immense, as if the frame is allowing the viewer to see just a small section of these wave and cloud-like forms coming together. While this work is similar to the earlier Frankenthaler that hangs next to it, its colors are brighter and the paint thicker, due to the artist’s switch from staining canvas to a more traditional painting technique. This leads to a more substantial, earthy feeling in contrast to Chalk Zone’s airiness. The title suggests that the painting is a kind of landscape, possibly seen from above, but is non-specific enough to allow for the viewer’s interpretation. July 22, 2020
Helen Frankenthaler is one of the strongest proponents of Color Field Painting, the style that came into prominence following Abstract Expressionism. Along with the artist Morris Louis, Frankenthaler is credited with the use of staining the canvas. In the mid to late 1950s, these artists sought to eliminate the figure/ground relationship of paint on canvas, and therefore, stopped preparing the canvas with a layer of gesso prior to applying paint. By using the raw canvas, the paint stained directly into the canvas fibers so that the two elements became a unified whole. Often the staining added an unexpected effect to the image, beyond the artist's control. Source: News, January February 1993.
Exhibition History"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA

"Karla Black: 20 Years", Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, February 8 - May 17. 2020
Published References"Des Moines Art Center Collects", Des Moines Art Center, 2013, ref. pg. 276, color ill. 277
DimensionsOverall: 90 × 60 1/2 in. (228.6 × 153.7 cm)
Accession Number 1992.32
Classificationspainting
CopyrightARS
SignedFrankenthaler (l,r acrylic paint)
ProvenanceArtist; (Andre Emmerich Gallery); Hanford Yang [purchased from previous]. David Urban; Helen Urban [acquired from previous]; Des Moines Art Center [gifted by previous,1992]
Sky Farm
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Helen Frankenthaler
1968
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Helen Frankenthaler
1968
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Helen Frankenthaler
1973
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Helen Frankenthaler
1960
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Helen Frankenthaler
2000
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Peter Halley
1993
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Edward Dugmore
1970
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Jean-Michel Basquiat
1984
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Matthew Freimark
1960
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Jordan Weber
2013
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
William T. Wiley
1972