Tales of Genji III 1998

Helen Frankenthaler made this painting, Tales of Genji III, with washes of blue and slim horizontal dashes of red. I like to imagine that she was in her studio thinking about water, sky, emotions, and how all three are connected. The paint here is super thin, right? Like watercolor. Frankenthaler stained the canvas instead of building up a thick layer of paint on the surface. When I look at the long vertical turquoise bar in the painting, I think it represents the moment when you just let go, and let intuition guide you. For Frankenthaler and other abstract painters, it was all about finding freedom in the act of painting. They're always responding to each other’s work, almost having a conversation that goes back and forth across decades. Painting, for them, was a way to express something that couldn't be put into words, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty in the process.