Take Off

Helen Frankenthaler

1956 · Oil and enamel on canvas · Modern and Contemporary Art

After seeing a show of Jackson Pollock’s recent work in New York in 1950, Frankenthaler worked to extend Pollock’s drip-and-pour method to include large collagelike forms of color. The year after she made this picture, Frankenthaler commented "I am involved in making pictures 'hold' an explosive gesture, something that is moving in and out of landscapelike depths but lies flat in local areas—intact but not confined . . . "

Artist

Helen Frankenthaler

Date

1956

Medium

Oil and enamel on canvas

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006