Inlet

Helen Frankenthaler, American, 1928 - 2011

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1965

Acrylic on canvas

Canvas: 56 3/4 × 81 3/4 in. (144.1 × 207.6 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Evelyn A. and William B. Jaffe 2015 Fund

2022.51

Geography

Place Made: United States, North America

Period

20th century

Object Name

Painting

Research Area

Painting

Not on view

Label

You have to know how to use the accident, how to recognize it, how to control it, and ways to eliminate it so that the whole surface looks felt and born all at once. --Helen Frankenthaler

Helen Frankenthaler’s pioneering technique of pouring paint directly onto an unprimed canvas made the paint and canvas inseparable—not a painting on canvas, but a new object entirely. She was interested in downplaying her level of control (her ego) and allowing the paint’s viscosity to participate in the final image. To this end, she literally removed her touch by avoiding brushes altogether.

From the 2023 exhibition The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, curated by John Stomberg, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director

Course History

Studio Art 25.01, Painting I, Daniele Genadry, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023

Exhibition History

The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe-Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 3-December 16, 2023.

Provenance

Gagosian Gallery; sold to present collection, 2022.

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