Must-See: ​​​​​​​Helen Frankenthaler Channels Motion into Form

This review is part of a new series of Must-See shows, in which a writer delivers a snapshot of a current exhibition  

In 1953, at the invitation of the critic Clement Greenberg, Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland visited Helen Frankenthaler’s studio. As the story goes, both painters were shocked by her soak-stain technique, which crystallized in one of her first abstract paintings, Mountains and Sea (1952). She had applied diluted paint to an unprimed canvas placed on the floor, allowing the pigment to soak into the fabric, fusing representation and surface into a single, expansive entity. Jackson Pollock’s influence was undeniable in her method, which she incorporated without ego, embracing the guidance of colour throughout the process. Frankenthaler’s motto, ‘move and make’, is now the title of an exhibition of her work currently showing at the newly inaugurated Museum Reinhard Ernst.

Tire (1961) stands as an early articulation of this approach, influenced by the artist’s 1953 visit to the prehistoric cave paintings in Altamira. Here, earthy hues evoke primitive modes of representation while the forms herald an increasing fusion of figure and ground in her practice alongside the integration of brown into her regular palette of pastel blues, greys and pinks. In her 2011 New York Times obituary of Frankenthaler, Grace Glueck recounts that the artist’s work was not unanimously praised, with some critics seeing her method as ‘too sweet in colour and too “poetic”’. These observations underlined a subjective denial of Frankenthaler’s artistic confidence in a practice that embraced spontaneity and openness.

Colour and intuition have also been the guiding forces for Reinhard Ernst, from whose expansive collection of abstract art the works in this show are drawn. For Hiroshige (1981) – one of his first Frankenthaler acquisitions – pays tribute to the Japanese master of woodblock printing. The work’s thick layers of white, gold and dijon paint provide a brighter, earthy palette creating kinetic, three-dimensional effects that amplify the artist’s characteristic flat dynamism. Ernst’s predilection for Japanese art led him to discover lesser-known aspects of Frankenthaler’s practice, leading him to build the richest collection of her paintings to date.

‘Move and Make’ contextualizes a personal selection of Frankenthaler’s oeuvre through her personal relationships. Green Moon (1984), for instance, sees the artist honour her early supporter Adolph Gottlieb by mimicking his signature circles. Presenting an impressive body of work by a master colourist, this retrospective proposes a thorough reading of Frankenthaler’s oeuvre, spotlighting her influence both in her own time and beyond.

Helen Frankenthaler‘s ‘Move and Make’ is on view at Museum Reinhard Ernst, Wiesbaden, until 28 September

_{Main image: Helen Frankenthaler, After Hours, 1975, acrylic on canvas, 1.5 × 4.3 m. Courtesy: © Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Inc. / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025}