Skip to Main Content

 Admission is always freeOpen today: 10:00  to 5:00  Directions             Play Artle            

                  -  Visit                      - Visit
                    - Getting Here
                    - Accessibility
                    - Tours, Guides & Maps
                    - Food & Drink
                    - Gallery Shops
                    - Visitor Policies 
                  -  Collection                      - Collection
                    - Highlights
                    - Search the Collection
                    - Artists Search
                    - Acquisition Highlights
                    - Stories
                    - Games 
                  -  Exhibitions                      - Exhibitions
                    - Current
                    - Special Installations
                    - Upcoming
                    - On Tour
                    - Past 
                  -  Calendar                      - Calendar
                    - Films
                    - Performances
                    - Talks
                    - Guided Tours
                    - After Hours
                    - Fun for Kids
                    - Festivals
                    - Workshops 
                  -  Learn                      - Learn
                    - Teachers
                    - Families
                    - Teens
                    - Adults
                    - Learning Resources
                    - Music Programs
                    - Film Programs 
                  -  Conservation                      - Conservation
                    - Projects
                    - Publications
                    - Resources 
                  -  Research                      - Research
                    - The Center
                    - Publications
                    - Make an Appointment
                    - Archives
                    - Library
                    - NGA Online Editions 
                  -  Support                      - Support
                    - Donate Now
                    - National Membership
                    - Circle Membership
                    - Leadership Groups
                    - Planned Giving
                    - Major Giving
                    - Gifts of Art 
                  -  Shop                      - Shop
                    - Books
                    - Jewelry
                    - Apparel & Accessories
                    - Kids
                    - NGA Custom Prints 
                  -  Play Artle

Home>Plan Your Visit>Tours, Guides, and Maps>Self-Guided Tours>Audio Stop 31

# Audio Stop 31

Your browser does not support this audio player.

There was a problem loading this track.Loading

00:0000:00

Helen Frankenthaler

## *Mountains and Sea*, 1952

 East Building, Upper Level - Gallery 407C

*Mountains and Sea* is a perfect example of Helen Frankenthaler’s technique of making works by staining, a process in which she poured thinned paint onto raw, unprimed canvas. This method results in fields of transparent color that seem to float in space, with the weave of the canvas emphasizing the flatness of the image. Her arrangements of colors and shapes often evoke the natural environment, and each work creates a unique visual space and atmosphere.

**NARRATOR:**

Helen Frankenthaler visited Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic coast in 1952. Inspired by its famed costal views, she came home and made this.

Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern art.

**MOLLY DONOVAN:**

What we’re looking at is certainly an abstraction, but it’s an abstraction that evokes a landscape. The light green edge that descends to the blue band can be really understood as a rocky shoreline that meets the water. And the blue splashes throughout the composition, could be seen as the Atlantic Ocean violently pouring over into the landscape.

**NARRATOR:**

Frankenthaler—just twenty-three at the time—was heavily influenced by artists like Jackson Pollock and their experiments in abstraction. But she pioneered her own style, pouring turpentine-thinned oil paint from coffee cans onto an unprimed canvas on the floor. The paint completely permeated the canvas, creating luminous pools of color.

About her canvases Frankenthaler once said, “...The thing was to decide where to leave it, and where to fill it, and where to say this doesn’t need another line or another pale of color. In other words, the very ground was part of the medium.”

**MOLLY DONOVAN:**

Very soon after it was made, two younger artists, Morris Louis and Kenneth Nolan, made a visit to Frankenthaler’s studio. Morris Louis was famously quoted as saying later that this work was a “bridge between Pollock and what is possible,” meaning that Frankenthaler took the example of Pollock painting abstract canvases on the floor, and she imbued this vocabulary with a fresh outlook through her staining technique.

East Building Tour: Featured Selections

Stop not found. Please try a different number.

### Stay connected

Learn more about our exhibitions, news, programs, and special offers.

About
          - About the National Gallery
          - Stories
          - Press
          - FAQs
          - Contact Us

Plan a Visit
          - Getting Here
          - Accessibility
          - Today's Tours
          - Food & Drink
          - Calendar
          - Downloadable Map

Get Involved
          - Donate
          - Membership
          - Volunteer
          - Opportunities
          - Shop Online

Resources
          - Search the Collection
          - Conservation
          - Library
          - Archives
          - The Center
          - Film Programs
          - Music Programs
          - Audio/Video
          - Open Access Images

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

**West Building**6th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed.*

**East Building**4th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 4th Street.*

**Sculpture Garden**7th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 7th Street, Constitution Avenue, or Madison Drive.*

We are closed on December 25 and January 1.

*The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.*

          -  Twitter 
          -  Facebook 
          -  Instagram 
          -  Pinterest 
          -  YouTube 

© 2024 National Gallery of Art   Notices   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy