Helen FrankenthalerAmerican, 1928–2011May 26 Backwards
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
In 1961 Frankenthaler was only beginning to understand the finer points of printmaking. The most essential of these is that printing reverses the image set on the stone. The title of this print, May 26 Backwards, is a playful acknowledgement that while the artist wrote the numbers in mirror image to compensate for the printing process, she neglected to invert the digits. As a result, 26 appears as 62 in the final print.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1982.460
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of Helen Frankenthaler
The whole life1959
First Prize at the Paris Biennial
She receives First Prize for Painting at the first Paris Biennial.
11 July 1959 – 11 October 1959
Exhibition: Documenta II
1960
First museum retrospective at the Jewish Museum
A retrospective of her work of the 1950s at the Jewish Museum is her first major museum show; the catalogue is written by the critic and poet Frank O’Hara, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art.
1960
Her work is described as “colour field painting”
In 1960 the term “colour field painting” is used to describe Frankenthaler’s work: large areas of colour on the canvas, hues similar in tone or intensity, large formats and simplified compositions.
1963
A switch to acrylic paints
From 1963 she uses acrylic paints rather than oils, because they allow for both opacity and sharpness on the canvas.
