HELEN FRANKENTHALER (1928 - 2011, AMERICAN) Untitled.
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 1995. 215x280 mm; 8½x11 inches, (sheet size). 215x140 mm; 8½x5½ inche, (image size).
Provenance: The artist; Gifted to Robert Louis Meyzen; Thence by descent to Robert Oliver Meyzen; Private collection, acquired from the above.
Clement Greenberg, a forceful but influential critic in the Post-War American art scene, championed Helen Frankenthaler and her innovative thinning and pouring of pigments on canvas, (stain painting). In the early 1950s when Frankenthaler began showing these works, she received praise and ridicule. Much of the negativity was coupled with sexist language. Patience, perseverance, and time have a way of ruling in favor of those who are creating sincere art. In March of 1995, when Helen Frankenthaler sent this lovely composition created as a gift on a menu to her friend, Robert Meyzin, owner of La Crémaillère in Bedford New York and co-founder of La Caravelle in New York City, she was well established as a leading figure and pioneer in the artworld. Today her artistic achievements and influence are irrefutable.
