Blessing of the Fleet 1969

Helen Frankenthaler made this abstract painting, Blessing of the Fleet, with acrylic on canvas. It's all about the process, and you can see the way the paint soaks into the canvas, becoming one with it. The colors are pretty simple—red, yellow, and green—but they make a big impact. It’s as though the canvas is stained with color, and you can almost feel the thinness of the paint, how it moves and pools. It’s not about hiding the brushstrokes or the way the paint behaves. Take a look at the upper edge of that central yellow shape; it looks like water flowing downwards, pulled by gravity. It makes me think of Morris Louis, another color field painter, how they both let the paint do its thing. Art isn’t about control, it’s about letting go and seeing what happens.