Selene

Artist Helen Frankenthaler American, 1928–2011

Date1977

MediumAcrylic on canvas

Dimensions96 x 67 1/2 in. (243.8 x 171.5 cm)
Frame: 97 1/4 x 68 3/4 x 2 1/4 in. (247 x 174.6 x 5.7 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of Mary and Jim Patton

Object number2014.20.22

On View

On view

Label TextAfter encountering Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings, twenty-three-year-old Frankenthaler developed a technique of pouring oil paint thinned to the consistency of watercolor directly onto unprimed canvas. Working horizontally on the floor like Pollock, Frankenthaler initiated with her staining technique a completely new type of abstraction known as color field painting. This style would be taken up by other artists, including Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis.

Frankenthaler’s large-scale, vibrantly colored paintings have an immediacy and vitality to them. Although she denied that her work related to landscape, in Selene the somber earth tones placed beneath a peach-hued border of light seem to imply a sky above an imaginary horizon.
[L. Dougherty, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2022]ProvenanceProbably created New York, 1977; collection of the artist; [Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York]; Mary and James R. Patton Jr., Great Falls, VA, December 1977; given to NCMA, 2014.
Published ReferencesHilton Kramer, “Art: Special Breed at Folk Art Show,” New York Times, December 2, 1977.
Exhibition HistoryNew York, Andre Emmerich Gallery, “Helen Frankenthaler: Recent Paintings,” November 9–December 8, 1977.

Washington, DC, National Museum of Women in the Arts, “Works of Distinction: Selected Donations and Loaned Works,” February–August 1991.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “The Patton Collection: A Gift to North Carolina,” March 28–August 23, 2015.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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