Essence Mulberry, State I

Image Not Available

Expand

IIIFView PDF

Essence Mulberry, State I

Artist Helen Frankenthaler American, 1928-2011

Date1977

DimensionsH: 39 3/8 in.; W: 18 ½ in.

MediumWoodcut printed in colors on gray, Maniai Gampi clay-coated, handmade paper.

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineGift of David and Georgia Welles

Object number

2013.165

Not on View

Collections

Works on Paper

Published References

Helen Frankenthaler Prints: 1961-1979, Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1980, pp. 114-120.

Fine, Ruth, Helen Frankenthaler Prints, Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1993, pp.22-23.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Wye, Deborah, Artists and Prints: Masterworks from the MOMA, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004, p.146.

See also Goldman, Judith, Frankenthaler: The Woodcuts, Naples Museum of Art, Florida (New York, 2002), pp.83-84.

See also Helen Frankenthaler: Prints 1985-1987, Exhibition Catalogue, Tyler Graphics, Ltd., New York, 1987.

See also Helen Frankenthaler: Monotypes and Drawings on Proofs, Exhibition Catalogue, Andre Emmerich Gallery (New York, 1981).

Label TextArt work that is completely abstract—free from any expression of the environment—is like music and can be responded to in the same way. Agnes Martin sought to create works whittled down to their most reductive elements. Her works often feature an emphasis on line, grids, and subtle color fields. She said, “When I first made a grid, I happened to be thinking of the innocence of trees and then this grid came into my mind, and I thought it represented innocence, and I still do; and so I painted it, and then I was satisfied. I thought, this is my vision.” Martin considered herself an Abstract Expressionist, and as such attempted to convey attitudes and emotions through her choice of colors and techniques. She often engaged with nature in her art, using abstraction to express her emotional response to the natural world.