Moving Day 1961

Helen Frankenthaler made this painting, Moving Day, with what looks like acrylic on canvas. Frankenthaler had this way of staining the canvas, of letting the paint soak right in, which is so different from building up layers. There’s this big splotch of purple and blue in the lower left – a dark, almost brooding presence and then you notice the wispy lines around it, like smoke or movement, which gives the sense that this colour stain is actually alive. Above this, there’s a yellow form and a pointed blue shape that shoots upwards, ending in a little burst of red. It’s like the whole painting is reaching for something, pushing upwards. Frankenthaler was always playing with color and form, pushing the boundaries of abstract expressionism into something uniquely her own, a dialogue that artists like Morris Louis took up. Art is about the conversation, and I love how she keeps it going, never settling, always moving.