Freefall

1992

Helen Frankenthaler

Artist, American, 1928 - 2011

Most of this abstract, vertical, roughly rectangular composition is filled with a field of azure blue surrounded by bands of pine green on the sides and bottom. Painted on paper, the blue field is mottled to range from aquamarine to lapis blue. The paint has dripped in areas, especially along the bottom, and puddled, especially across the top. A few streaks of deep amethyst purple cover a lighter area streaked with some green to our left of center. A few other streaks of moss green appear at the center and along the bottom quarter of the composition. The upper corners of the paper are a lighter sky blue. A wavy line of canary yellow seems to contain the blue field along the left half of the bottom edge, and it blends with the blue to create a line of spring green. The dark green borders along the sides and bottom edge of the paper swell out, creating a slightly irregular shape.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pressed TGL hand-made paper pulp, acrylic gel, and acrylic paint

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Helen Frankenthaler

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 177.8 x 147.3 cm (70 x 58 in.)
    framed: 209.6 x 163.8 cm (82 1/2 x 64 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1993.19.1


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Helen Frankenthaler, New York,; gift to NGA, 1993.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1993

  • Helen Frankenthaler: Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; San Diego Museum of Art; Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 1993-1994.

2001

  • A Century of Drawing, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, no. 134.

Bibliography

2001

  • Brodie, Judith and Andrew Robison, eds. A Century of Drawing. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2001: no. 134.

Inscriptions

lower left in green colored pencil: Frankenthaler / '92; lower left verso in graphite: 9/21/92 / HF 92-3057

Markings

stamp of Tyler Graphics

Wikidata ID

Q64573481


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