Delicate violet and green colour fields open up on the surface of the canvas: they flow into each other, emerge or recede, ranging from deep, full-bodied tones to colours that seem almost transparent and luminously bright. In contrast, more sharply defined, horizontal formations define the limits of the painting at the lower and left edges.
The work captures the very moment when the liquid paint first hits the canvas: it seeps in, spreads and marks out the field. Through luminosity, translucency and opacity, the quality of the material recalls characteristics more typically associated with watercolour painting. At the heart of the large-format painting lies independent, free colour, bound to the representation of neither an object nor a gesture.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011)
Zarathustra, 1988
Currently exhibited: Yes (Gallery: Painting as a Home)
Material: Acrylic paint on canvas
Size: 205.7 x 249.6 cm
Inv-Nr.: B_373
Image rights: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Copyright: Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, New York
Keywords:
Previous owner: André Emmerich Gallery, New York; private collection, USA
Acquisition: Reinhard Ernst Collection, Christie’s, New York, 2016
Delicate violet and green colour fields open up on the surface of the canvas: they flow into each other, emerge or recede, ranging from deep, full-bodied tones to colours that seem almost transparent and luminously bright. In contrast, more sharply defined, horizontal formations define the limits of the painting at the lower and left edges.
The work captures the very moment when the liquid paint first hits the canvas: it seeps in, spreads and marks out the field. Through luminosity, translucency and opacity, the quality of the material recalls qualities more typically associated with watercolour painting. Once more, we are witness to Frankenthaler’s masterly use of colour. At the heart of the large-format painting lies independent, free colour, bound to the representation of neither an object nor a gesture. The artist underlines her belief in the freedom of painting with the words: ‘There is no always. No formula. There are no rules. Let the picture lead you where it must go.’ [1]
The title Zarathustra is difficult to reference in the painting, which rather balances volume and emptiness, weight and weightlessness. It is possibly a reference to the Richard Strauss composition given that Frankenthaler had named a painting after the 18th century composer Domenico Scarlatti a year earlier.
[1] Helen Frankenthaler, quoted in: Ted Loos, ‘Helen Frankenthaler, Back to the Future’, New York Times, 27 April 2003.
