Captain’s Paradise (1971) - Helen Frankenthaler Formal Analysis
Written by Zak Baumker
Triumphant, a word I find describes Helen Frankenthaler’s practice as an artist throughout her career. A person who directly chose to go against the aesthetic of the time, this being abstract expressionism and action painting. A person who perfected and fostered the technique of soak-stain painting to influence future color-field painters. A person who never was recognized to the prestige of the white-male artists of the time, although her work effervesces more than any other painter of this era. Helen Frankenthaler was and is an influential artist who expressed naturalistic and organic qualities in her paintings that no other artist could; furthermore, she pioneered and dug-out a unique style never before-seen within the art world.
As I enter the Columbus Museum of Art I walk up the staircase which lies just passed the admissions desk, feeling anticipation build with each step. Once I reach the top of the staircase I turn left and pass over a small bridge to enter the Modern and Contemporary art gallery. Upon entering I go right enter the first space… this space being comprised of works which only reference the figure. Some important artists included in this space being Kehinde Wiley who creates monumental ornamental portraits, and Alice Neel who constructs the body in a gestural and expressive fashion. Continuing through this space I set foot into a new space which is wholly comprised of non-representational and or abstract works, a place I always seem to find new inspiration for my own work. In this gallery are works by important and influential artists such as Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Franz Kline, and Julian Stanczak. This small scope of artists somehow seems to cross a broad scope of abstraction… from precision to expressivity. In addition, these artists all choose different stylistic specificites to create a unique brand within the idea saturated world of abstraction. This brand can be shown through many simplicities such as color, form, application of paint/medium, size of canvas, etc.
One work that stands out the most within this space is an exceptionally large canvas which stretches across the majority of this gallery’s wall. This extraordinary piece being one of Helen Frankenthaler’s works titled Captain’s Paradise (1971). On the wall this work pulls the viewer in from afar first by its monumentality, then by its astonishing use of color. Through the use of the soak-stain technique I begin to feel myself being pulled into the fibers of the canvas, alongside the vibrant oil paint. The creation of these giant forms through this technique begins to express a freedom and independence of form and color. This independence then being directly countered by the relationships each form has with one another. In the bottom left and right of the canvas the two forms control and frame the main blue form that takes up the majority of the canvas. While the thin black form sitting atop the surface is used as a barrier for the eye to bounce back into the composition moving the eye directly back to its resting place. Although at face value the composition is majorly comprised of shapes, upon further inspection line is used greatly throughout the whole. These lines seemingly begin on the left and move on top and through forms across the canvas to the right; in turn, this begins to disrupt the organizational qualities of this work but opens a new way for the viewer to experience it. As for the colors used within this work a soft organic feeling appears, where each color feels as though it may reference something within nature. Brownish-yellow begins to relate to dirt or sunshine, the blue expresses a direct relation to water or the sky, the green referencing grass or plants as a whole, and finally the black which may reference shadows seen within nature. These colors all being felt more deeply through the smooth application of oil paint which encapsulate a vibrancy most other mediums fail to do.
Harkening back to this analysis a new understanding of Helen Frankenthaler’s work arises. A feeling of being within and viewing nature is captured through the use of all the formal elements of art. First, the monumentality of the work is the initial idea and expression of nature as an enormous part of us and the world. Use of the soak-stain technique pulls the viewer into the work as being in nature does the same and parallels this idea. Freedom of form and the allowance of the forms to breath represents the way nature grows freely how it can never be fully contained. Although this is true, the organization of forms and relation to one another shows the hidden strictness of natures structure. The two shapes which lie on both left and right act as landforms holding the large blue form in space, and only allowing it to pour out of the bottom of the canvas… as if it were a waterfall. In addition, the black forms reference to shadow is portrayed through its use to bounce back to the main blue form. Lastly, the thin gestural lines that cross the canvas reflects wind and the way it disregards all rules, passes through and disrupts.
Within this gallery space lies another artist working within abstraction that continuously references nature, this artist is Agnes Martin. Contradictory to Helen Frankenthaler, Agnes Martin uses a precise application of line to create her abstract works. This process immediately refers to the deep organization that every part of nature includes. In her work Wind that is on view in the same gallery space, she creates the composition through the use of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines. These lines constantly move the eye up, down, left, and right throughout the whole gridded area. This movement of the eye begins to portray the title Wind by winds natural occurence to move and change constantly. In spite of the fact that these two artists work within abstraction, we see the way that artists choose to define their style and the way they chose to portray their themes.
In the end, I have begun to understand how artists use simple formal aesthetics of art to reference their themes and subjects through non-representational formats. This deeper understanding will begin to influence my own work and how I further my themes through abstraction. As I continue to view and experience new works I plan on taking the time to dissolve and separate all parts of a work to again, gain a deeper comprehension of what is in front of me. Finally, I will continue to research and actively attempt to view more works by Helen Frankenthaler to attempt to realize how I as an artist can triumph over and break away from the aesthetics of the contemporary art world.
