Eve 1995

Helen Frankenthaler made this lyrical painting, *Eve*, by staining thin washes of acrylic into unprimed canvas. See how she lets the paint soak right into the fabric? It's like she's dyeing the canvas rather than painting on it. I can imagine Frankenthaler in her studio, maybe with the canvas laid out on the floor. She’s up above it, pouring and brushing and coaxing these luminous washes of blue, green, red, and yellow. The paint is so thin, it almost feels like watercolor, yet the scale is expansive and the impact is bold. It's this beautiful paradox between control and chance. It makes me think of other color field painters, like Morris Louis, who were also exploring these ideas of flatness and pure color. The way she builds up these layers of translucent color reminds me that painting is never just one thing. It’s an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas that unfolds through time.