Tales of Genji VI 1998

This is Helen Frankenthaler's "Tales of Genji VI" made with acrylic on canvas. I imagine her, in her studio, tilting the canvas, letting the paint flow and stain. See how the light browns and creams wash across the surface, almost like a watercolor? Then, these darker, earthy tones anchor the composition. It makes me think about how she built up the image, layer by layer, responding to what the paint was doing, letting the painting become itself. That dark swoosh at the top – it feels so gestural and free. What was she thinking at that moment? What feeling was she trying to capture? Frankenthaler, like other painters, such as Joan Mitchell, are constantly pushing and pulling, adding and subtracting, to find a new way of seeing, thinking, and feeling. These artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas, inspiring one another's creativity. Painting embraces ambiguity, inviting multiple interpretations. It's a dance between control and chance, and that's what makes it so alive!