Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/arts/helen-frankenthaler-abstract-painter-dies-at-83.html
"What concerns me when I work, is not whether the picture is a landscape, or whether it's pastoral, or whether somebody will see a sunset in it. What concerns me is - did I make a beautiful picture?" Helen Frankenthaler.
Retrieved from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-frankenthaler-helen.htm
Biography
Helen Frankenthaler, born on December 12, 1928 in New York was an American abstract expressionist painter. She grew up in a rich Manhattan family with her two older sisters. Her parents could see how she was gifted in the field of art, so they sent her to progressive, experimental schools, where she could exercise her talent (The Art Story Foundation, 2012).
Helen loved painting nature; she loved the sea, sky and the entire landscape. It was during the summer, when the whole family went away on holidays, where she developed this love and passion for the outdoor scenery (The Art Story Foundation, 2012).
She decided on a career as an artist, so she studied painting when she finished school in 1946 (Hess, 2005).
She was influenced by abstract expressionist painting from the likes of Jackson Pollock, who poured paint onto the canvas (Hess, 2005). From this she developed her own technique. Like Pollock, she didn’t apply paint with a brush but she invented the ‘soak stain’ technique, where she diluted oil paints with turpentine and then poured them onto the canvas. Doing this thinned the paint and allowed it to soak into the canvas fibres, creating a water colour effect (Hess, 2005). It took away the 3D element to the painting because the paint seemed to merge with the canvas (The Art Story Foundation, 2012). Helen stated “I didn’t want to take a stick and dip it in a can of enamel. I needed something more liquid, watery, thinner” (Hess, 2005, p80). She didn’t want to paint like everyone else, she wanted to invent and be different. She declared "there are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about" (The Art Story Foundation, 2012).
Helen painted her most famous painting at the young age of 23, Mountains and Sea (1952) and got her inspiration for all her paintings from her travels experiencing nature (Hess, 2005). Other artworks by her include, Canyon (1965), East and Beyond (1973) and Desert pass (1976).
By Helen being an ‘Abstract’ Artist refers to her taking an original image and changing some of its elements (ARTtalk, 2002). She applied this to in the painting of nature, by not painting the exact representation of something.
Helen Frankenthaler died on December 27, 2011 at the age of 83 (The Art Story Foundation, 2012).
She was very prominent artist in the 21st century because of what she achieved and how she inspired others.
Her technique allowed the ‘Colour Field Movement’ to come about which influenced the work of other artists (The Art Story Foundation).
References
Hess, H. (2005) Abstract Expressionism. Los Angeles: Taschen
The Art Story Foundation. (2012). Helen Frankenthaler. Retrieved from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-frankenthaler-helen.htm
ArtTalk. (2002). Helen Frankenthaler. Retrieved from http://www.arttalk.com/archives/vol-12/artv1207-1.htm
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The teaching and learning focus about Helen Frankenthaler’s painting technique can be highly effective in a classroom environment. The conceptual framework is a structure to teach visual arts in the classroom. It helps to form an understanding of visual arts. There are 4 elements of the conceptual framework which are, Artwork, Artist, Audience and Subject Matter. They are all interconnected and relate to eachother. The elements of the conceptual framework that I am targeting are Artist and Artwork, and how these work together to help stimulate children’s artistic learning. I have chosen these two elements because I feel that when children are analysing an artwork, it is important that they know the important person who is responsible for creating it. This will help them think like an artist for the reason why an artwork was created.
When looking at Helen Frankenthaler’s artwork, it is important for children to know who created the artwork. That it was a painter called Helen Frankenthaler and she worked individually. The purpose of why she paints and the meaning of her artworks need to be made evident to children. This can be done by analysing the subject matter of her artwork. Subject matter is what painting is about and what it is portraying. Can show children various paintings by her and it will be noticed that most paintings have something to do with the outdoors. This is because Helen loved nature and wanted to paint beautiful representations of nature. It can be seen that the subject matter is not a real life representation, it has been changed. She is an abstract artist for the reason that she does not paint accurate representations of nature.
With the artwork itself, children can see it is a type of painting. It is obvious to see that paints are used but what needs to be revealed and unpacked is what is different about the paint and her actual method of ‘painting’. Children will become aware that the paints look different to normal paints. They look watered down and much lighter and like they are in the paper. This is because in fact, they have been diluted with turpentine and is what gives them a watercolour effect. The paint has been allowed to soak into the paper, which is why it looks like the paint is part of/ inside the paper. They will become aware that this was her painting method named the ‘soak stain’ technique.
Children can distinguish that there are no signs of brush strokes so the painting would have been constructed with something else. Children can become sensitive to paint being poured onto the paper and then being manoeuvred with anything but a brush. This is how Helen worked and she did this because she didn’t want to be boring and paint like everyone else.
The connection between Artwork and Artist is so strong that it needs to be enforced in the classroom. For children to gain and develop knowledge they need to know why an artist did what they did and how the artwork is constructed. Children can become aware of Helen Frankenthaler, her techniques and her intentions through this educational resource I have created.
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