10/29/52 illuminates Helen Frankenthaler’s abstract approach to landscape. Created at a turning point in her career, this painting demonstrates the “soak stain technique” that she pioneered following a summer spent painting landscapes in Nova Scotia, Canada. Using paint thinner to liquify her oil paint until it was the consistency of watercolor, Frankenthaler introduced a new way of engaging with canvas, which she placed on the floor as opposed to on an easel.
Here, the swirling, undulating forms suggest her affinity for the improvisational compositions of Wassily Kandinsky (on view in Gallery 392) and Arshile Gorky (Gallery 398), and the looping shapes allude to the signature aesthetic of her contemporary Jackson Pollock, whose work is on view nearby.
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
Gift of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan Purchase Prize Fund; through prior gift of Helen Harvey Mills in honor of Natalie, Julian, and Brett; Barbara Neff Smith and Solomon Byron Smith Purchase Fund
E. C. Goosen, Helen Frankenthaler, exh. cat. (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1969), 20, cat. 3 (ill.), 60.
E. C. Goosen, Helen Frankenthaler, exh. cat. (Hannover: Kunstverein Hannover, 1969), n/p., cat. 2 (ill.).
E. C. Goosen, Helen Frankenthaler: Bilder 1952-1968, New York, exh. cat. (Hannover: Schäfer, 1969), n.p. cat. 2 (ill).
Barbara Rose, Frankenthaler (New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1972, 59, pl. 19 (ill.).
Carl Belz, Helen Frankenthaler: The 1950s, exh. cat. (Waltham, MA: Rose Art Museum, Brandies University, 1981), 13, 18, cat. 13.
Hilton Kramer, “Helen Frankenthaler’s Art in the 50’s,” New York Times, June 7, 1981, D31.
John Elderfield, “Specific Incidents,” Art in America, 70, no. 2 (Feb. 1982)
John Elderfield, Frankenthaler, (New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1989), 69, 73 (color ill.), 83.
Paul Hayes Tucker, Kenneth Noland: Paintings 1958-1968, exh. cat. (New York: Mitchell¬–Innes and Nash, 2011), 15, as Landscape 10/52.
John Elderfield, Painted on 21st Street: Helen Frankenthaler from 1950 to 1959, exh. cat. (New York: Gagosian Gallery; New York: Abrams, 2013), 11 (detail color ill.), 28–29, 80 (color ill.), 153.
Alexander Nemerov, Helen Frankenthaler and L, M, N, O, P, exh. cat. (New York: Yares Art, 2016), 3.
Pepe Karmel, Pittura/Panorama: Paintings by Helen Frankenthaler, 1952–1992, exh. cat. (New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2019), 9, 11, 13–14, 17, 29 (color ill.), 30 (detail color ill.), 86.
Jason Rosenfield, Leon Berkowitz: Threshold of Perceptibility, exh. cat. (New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2019), 7.
Jackie Wullschlager, “Abstraction in Venice: Jean Arp, Arshile Gorky, and Helen Frankenthaler,” Financial Times, May 18, 2019, 16.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Helen Frankenthaler, Feb. 16–Apr. 6, 1969, cat. 3; London, Whitechapel Gallery, May 7–June 8, 1969, cat. 2; Hannover, Orangerie Herrenhausen, Aug. 20–Sept. 21, 1969; Kongresshalle Berlin, Oct. 2–21, 1969.
Waltham, MA, Rose Art Museum, Brandies University, Helen Frankenthaler: The 1950s, May 10–June 28, 1981, cat. 13.
New York, Gagosian Gallery, Painted on 21st Street: Helen Frankenthaler from 1950 to 1959, Mar. 3–Apr. 13, 2013, no cat. no.
Venice, Museo di Palazzo Grimani, Pittura/Panorama: Paintings by Helen Frankenthaler, 1952–1992, May 7–Nov. 17, 2019, no cat. no.
The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, New York; by partial gift and exchange to the Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 11, 2023.
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