This work represents a superb example of Helen Frankenthaler's mature style. She studied with Hans Hofmann and Rufino Tamayo, and is best known for her large stained canvases produced with washes of diluted acrylic paint. The diluted paint functions like watercolor soaking into raw, unstretched canvas as opposed to resting on the surface. This process merges the paint and its support into one entity, diminishing painting's traditional figure and ground relationship. Frankenthaler's approach influenced a generation of artists, especially color-field painters such as Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis.

Source: News, October November December 2008.

This work represents a superb example of the artist's mature style. Frankenthaler studied with Hans Hofmann and Rufino Tamayo, and is best known for her large stained canvases produced with washes of diluted acrylic paint. The diluted paint functions like watercolor soaking into raw, unstretched canvas as opposed to resting on the surface. This process merges the paint and its support into one entity, diminishing painting's traditional figure and ground relationship. Frankenthaler's approach influenced a generation of artists, expecially color-field painters such as Kenne6th Noland and Morris Louis.

Source: NEWS Oct Nov Dec 2008

Frankenthaler pioneered a method of painting in which she poured paint directly onto unprimed canvas. As the liquid absorbed into the canvas fibers, it merged color and surface, and was subsequently adopted by other artists, including Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, both of whom are in the Art Center’s permanent collection. Chalk Zone focuses on color relationships and the edges created where shapes meet. The forms and fields of colors seem immense, as if the frame is allowing the viewer to see just a small portion of an infinite scene. The title suggests that the painting is a kind of landscape, possibly seen from a great distance.

July 22, 2020