Helen Frankenthaler

Helen Frankenthaler visited Spain on a trip to Europe in 1953 and told her then-partner, the art critic Clement Greenberg, about her enthusiasm for the prehistoric cave paintings in Altamira (northern Spain). In a postcard, she described how ‘the contour of the ceiling matches the forms of the animals – e.g., big bump on ceiling where bison’s rump is. It all looks like one huge painting on unsized canvas; in fact it all reminded me of a lot of my pictures.’ [1] In the cave paintings, she recognised a way to dissolve the duality of figure and background: just as the surface of the rock is integrated with the painting material, so too the fibres of the canvas fuse with the paint. Cave Memory, created in 1959, features earthy tones and sketch-like lines, evoking the drawings of Lascaux and Altamira. Particularly noteworthy: Frankenthaler decided to use the reverse side of the canvas after discarding the front.

Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011)

Cave Memory, 1959

Currently exhibited: Yes (Helen Frankenthaler: Move and Make)

Material: Oil on canvas
Size: 94.50 x 104.50 cm
Inv-Nr.: B_488
Image rights: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Copyright: Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, New York

Keywords:

• Abstract Expressionism
• Color field painting
• Soak-stain-technique