Variation II on Mauve Corner 1969

Helen Frankenthaler made *Variation II on Mauve Corner* using the soak-stain technique, where she poured thinned paint directly onto unprimed canvas. Imagine her in the studio, moving around this big piece of canvas on the floor, sloshing these pools of colour. That dark blue shape, almost like a bruise, anchors the whole piece. Then these smaller gestures in green and brown seem to float around it, stains on the canvas, as if she's pushing and pulling, trying to find a balance. Look closely, and you can see how the paint bleeds into the fabric. Frankenthaler’s work reminds me of other colour field painters like Morris Louis, but also going way back to impressionist landscape painters. All these artists are interested in the conversation between colour, form, and surface. It's like they're all talking to each other across time. And maybe, if we're lucky, we can eavesdrop on their conversation.