Swan Lake #2 1961

Helen Frankenthaler made this lyrical abstract painting, Swan Lake #2, through her soak-stain technique which she developed in the 1950s. As a woman working in the male-dominated art world of the mid-20th century, Frankenthaler had to navigate her identity as both a woman and an artist. Her work often defies easy categorization, reflecting a resistance to being confined by gendered expectations. Her technique involved pouring thinned paint onto unprimed canvas, allowing the colors to soak directly into the fabric. This created luminous, fluid forms that blurred the boundaries between painting and ground. The lack of defined forms allows for an exploration of identity through abstraction, a departure from traditional representation. The painting invites us to reflect on how we, like the colors in Frankenthaler's work, are shaped by forces beyond our control, and how we can find beauty in the unexpected.