Mark Rothko and

Helen Frankenthaler

Mark Rothko
Lived from 1903-1970
Born in Latvia
Moved with his family to the
U.S. when he was 10 years old
Attended Yale University in
1921, thought about getting an
engineering or law degree
Left Yale for New York to
pursue art

From Representational to Abstract

Early art pieces focused on urban
scenes and landscapes
Themes of isolation and
mystery
1940s - shifted to imagery
influenced by World War II
Themes of death and survival

Street Scene, c. 1937

The Omen of the Eagle,

1942

From Representational to Abstract

1950s - art became completely
abstract
Became part of a movement called
Abstract Expressionism
Specifically a Color Field painter

White Center (Yellow, Pink, and

Lavender on Rose), 1950

Wait, what is
Abstract
Expressionism?

A Brief Overview of
Abstract Expressionism

A movement in the 1940s and 1950s in which

artists were committed to an expressive art of
profound emotion and universal themes
Influenced by post-war mood of anxiety and
trauma

A Brief Overview of
Abstract Expressionism

Art moved away from European traditions of painting

toward a more American approach
Large-scale
Took canvas off easel
Used unconventional materials like house paint
Art characterized as American in spirit - monumental in
scale, romantic in mood, and expressive of a rugged
individual freedom.

What is Color
Field Painting?

A Brief Overview of Color

Field Painting

A subcategory within Abstract Expressionism

A style of abstraction that aims to express a
yearning for transcendence and the infinite
Emphasized the expressive power of color by
painting large fields of color on large canvases that
enveloped the viewer

Green and Maroon, 1953

Ochre and Red on Red, 1954

No 1 Royal Red and Blue, 1954

Green and Tangerine on Red, 1956

Four Darks in Red, 1958

No. 14 (Horizontals, White Over Darks),

1961

Rothko Chapel, 1971

"A painting is not a picture of an experience; it is an

experience."
Mark Rothko

Color stimulates certain moods in us. It

awakens joy or fear in accordance with its
whole world, as we
configuration. In fact, the
experience it visually, comes to us through the
mystic realm of color. Our entire being is
nourished by it. This mystic quality of color
should likewise find expression in a work of
art."
Hans Hofmann

Helen Frankenthaler
Lived from 1928-2011
Part of the Abstract Expressionist
and Color Field Painting
Movements
Credited with inventing the colorstain/soak-stain technique
(applying turpentine-thinned paint
to an unprimed canvas)
Created luminescent, misty
compositions

Helen Frankenthaler

Considered a second-generation Abstract

Expressionist
Differed from first-generation Abstract
Expressionists in that she was mainly
inspired by natural landscapes

Mountains and Sea, 1952

The Bay, 1963

Interior Landscape, 1964

Nature Abhors a Vacuum, 1973

Ocean Drive West #1, 1974

Toward Dark, 1988

Sandstorm, 1992

Warming Trend, 2002

Questions to think about:

How can you express your identity in an abstract
manner?
What color(s) would you use to describe yourself or
your outlook on life? Why?
Abstract Expressionist art is characterized as American in
spirit - monumental in scale, romantic in mood, and
expressive of a rugged individual freedom. -- What
characterizes or defines your art? How is that a reflection
of your identity?