Blue Form in a Scene 1961

Helen Frankenthaler made this painting, Blue Form in a Scene, using acrylic on canvas. Just imagine the act of pouring and staining, letting the paint soak into the fibers, almost like tie-dye but on a grand scale. It’s a dance between control and accident. I think Frankenthaler was trying to create a landscape of feeling more than a literal place. There is a way that a gesture in paint can communicate so much, like the looping brown line on the bottom right, which makes me think of an unravelling thought. The colours – that muted palette of blues, greens, and earthy tones – create such a calm yet evocative atmosphere. And that central orange form, it is kind of reminiscent of what Rothko was trying to do, but it is more gestural, less about the sublime, and more about the process. These artists are always in conversation, even across time, building on each other’s explorations. Painting, for me, is about embracing ambiguity, allowing for multiple readings, and Frankenthaler does it so well here.