The Work of Helen Frankenthaler and Larry Poons at VFA

The works and technique of Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) inspired many artists of her generation. But, according to Alexander Nemerov, author of Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York, it took a solo trip to the Prado for Frankenthaler get inspired herself.

 

After graduating from Bennington, Frankenthaler moved to Manhattan to begin her career as an artist. She was having a tough summer; her mother was ill, her sisters not around. Frankenthaler did admire the paintings of Jackson Pollock and Arshile Gorky, but found  that much of the art that she saw at local galleries somehow missed the mark.. She got onto the luxury cruise ship, the S.S. Constitution, and headed for Spain. She spent her days viewing paintings of the Old Masters. The feeling she got, that she referred to as a charge when she first looked at a painting, especially a Rubens, was what she wanted to create in her own work. 

 

According to Nemerov, when Frankenthaler was a child, she would pour her mother’s red nail polish in the sink and watch patterns form. This may have been a precursor to the soak- stain technique that became her signature style, though she said that her decision to throw turpentine-thinned paint onto raw canvas was a decision that she made due to a  “combination of impatience, laziness, and innovation.”

 

 

 Whatever the reason, the method worked. It worked so well that other artists were inspired by her works and she began to get much recognition.

 

Frankenthaler continually challenged herself, and, in the 1960s, began to create silkscreens, woodcuts and other works on paper.

 

In September, Frankenthaler’s works on paper will be on view at two venues in Italy. Helen Frankenthaler: Painting on Paper, 1990–2002  opens on September 30, 2024, showcasing 18 large-scale works that capture the essence of Frankenthaler's late-career renaissance. Many of these pieces have never before been shown in galleries. The show coincides with Helen Frankenthaler: Painting without Rules at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, the largest presentation of her work ever mounted in Italy.

 

One of the artists who was inspired by, and credits Frankenthaler’s Color Field approach to painting as a great influence on his own style, is Larry Poons (b.1937). Poons'  latest works were shown this summer at the Yares Art Gallery in New York. At age 86, Poons not only continues to create vibrant paintings and prints, he also continues to teach at the Art Students League in New York along with his wife, artist Paula Poons.

 

Work by both Helen Frankenthaler and Larry Poons are available at VFA.  

 

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July 31, 2024