With Wellspring (1985), Helen Frankenthaler marked her return to painting on canvas after a significant hiatus. In the previous year, she had channelled much of her energy into other projects: while only a few paintings were created in 1984, she produced a large number of works on paper – among them, designs for the stage set of Sergei Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, performed by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in London. This ambitious theatre project absorbed Frankenthaler’s attention, as did her collaboration on Karen Wilkin’s comprehensive monograph on her work. At the same time, she was also engaged in printmaking collaborations.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011)
Wellspring, 1985
Currently exhibited: Yes (Helen Frankenthaler moves Jenny Bronsinksi, Ina Gerken, Adrian Schiess)
Material: Acrylic on canvas
Size: 121,7 x 130,5 cm
Inv-Nr.: B_308
Image rights: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Copyright: Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, New York
Keywords:
Acquired: Reinhard Ernst Collection, 2014
Helen Frankenthaler moves Jenny Brosinski, Ina Gerken, Adrian Schiess, 26.10.2025–22.02.2026
It was only after completing these intensive commitments that Frankenthaler returned to canvas in the spring of 1985. The impact of the break is palpable in Wellspring: the painting unfolds with a directness and spontaneity reminiscent of her works on paper. Against a pale yellow ground, a dark expanse in tones of brown and violet spreads across the surface. Drawn lines and splattered marks in gold, silver and orange seem to echo a graphic quality, while also demonstrating a renewed confidence in the handling of material.
Wellspring thus represents not only a fresh beginning, but also a development: Frankenthaler translates the lightness of drawing into painting, merging her longstanding experience with the vitality of a new departure.
