As in Nature
Helen Frankenthaler Paintings
July 1–October 9, 2017
Helen Frankenthaler
Milkwood Arcade
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928–2011), Milkwood Arcade, 1963. Acrylic on canvas, 86 ½ x 80 ¾ in. Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. © 2017 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Lunder Center at Stone Hill
This exhibition comprises a selection of large paintings by Helen Frankenthaler from the 1950s through the 1990s, focusing on nature as a longstanding inspiration. Like many abstract artists, Frankenthaler continually tested the constraints of the genre, at times inserting into her compositions elements of recognizable subject matter that throw the abstract elements into relief. The paintings in this exhibition represent the full range of styles and techniques that she explored over five decades of work; while all are primarily abstract, they also contain allusions to landscape, demonstrating how Frankenthaler’s delicate balance between abstraction and a nuanced responsiveness to nature and place developed and shifted over time. As Frankenthaler once commented, “Anything that has beauty and provides order (rather than chaos or shock alone), anything resolved in a picture (as in nature) gives pleasure—a sense of rightness, as in being one with nature.”
As in Nature is made possible by the generous contribution of Denise Littlefield Sobel and the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts. Major support is provided by Dena and Felda Hardymon, with additional support from Richard and Carol Seltzer.
HELEN FRANKENTHALER AND WILLIAMSTOWN
During the 1979–80 academic year, Abstract Expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler was part of the Williams College Artist-in-Residence Program. At the end of this period, the Clark presented and toured a comprehensive exhibition of her prints, curated by Thomas Krens, then director of the Artist-in-Residence Program and incoming director of the Williams College Museum of Art. The Clark renews its association with the artist this summer with two exhibitions exploring her paintings and prints. As in Nature focuses on the complex meanings behind the color in Frankenthaler’s paintings, while No Rules features Frankenthaler’s rich woodcuts, executed over four decades of her career.