{"id":34648,"date":"2025-08-31T08:38:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T06:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museum-re.de\/?p=34648"},"modified":"2025-08-28T14:25:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:25:38","slug":"change-as-a-constant-frankenthaler-in-provincetown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museum-re.de\/en\/museum\/aktuelles\/change-as-a-constant-frankenthaler-in-provincetown\/","title":{"rendered":"Change as a Constant: Frankenthaler in Provincetown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Helen Frankenthaler with Hans Hofmann
\n\u00a9 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. 2025<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Photo: Beth Fitzpatrick \u00a9 Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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Located on the tip of Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, Provincetown is a hook-like spit of land on Provincetown Bay, which provided a safe haven back in 1620 to the Pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower<\/em>. Battered by the perilous journey from Southampton, England, and looking to settle near New York in order to create a Puritan-faith based colony, the large natural harbour offered shelter before they moved on to nearby Plymouth, Massachusetts.[1]<\/a> Provincetown eventually grew into a fishing port, becoming particularly prosperous through whaling in the 19th Century. At the turn of the century, the area became also a popular destination for artists influenced by the painter Charles W. Hawthorne (1872\u20131930), who was drawn by Provincetown\u2019s wide dunes and ample beaches, as well as its particular light.[2]<\/a> Equally favouring plein-air painting, the German emigr\u00e9 artist Hans Hofmann (1880\u20131966)<\/a>, too, opened in Provincetown his summer art school in 1938, which turned out to be an influential meeting and learning point for many American Abstract painters, including Helen Frankenthaler.[3]<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Helen Frankenthaler, Provincetown Harbor<\/em>, 1950, Museum Reinhard Ernst, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; \u00a9 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, New York<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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Her early work Provincetown Harbor <\/em><\/a>in the Reinhard Ernst Collection was painted in 1950 during Frankenthaler\u2019s stay at Hofmann\u2019s school. Dynamic diagonals structure a rough-textured paper, moody greys anchor the lower part of the composition, to then dissolve into pinks, greens and ochres at the upper part of the paper. It is a work full of energy and confidence in its search for a new pictorial language. Frankenthaler already shows her mastery of colour, which she tames and coaxes into the paper\u2019s texture, pre-empting the soak-stain technique, which she would later develop on canvas. Provincetown Harbor<\/em><\/a> also foretells Frankenthaler\u2019s key interest in the interplay between water and light.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Helen Frankenthaler during the weeks of Hans Hofmann’s school, Provincetown, MA, July 1950. \u00a9 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Archives, New York. Photographer Unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Provincetown would become instrumental in this exploration in the 1960s: Frankenthaler and her husband Robert Motherwell purchased two properties, 622 Commercial Street and \u2018Sea Barn\u2019, which became her joint studio with Motherwell, though each of them worked on their own floor of the house.[3]<\/a> The artist couple shared their love for the sea [4]<\/a>: their respective series Provincetown<\/a> Series <\/em>(Frankenthaler) and Beside the Sea<\/em><\/a> (Motherwell) are an ode to the fluidity of colour, water, chance and control, and ultimately freedom.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t

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Helen Frankenthaler, Provincetown Series #2, 1960, PAAM Collection, Gift of The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, 2022. \u00a9 2025 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc.\/Artists Right Society (ARS), New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Frankenthaler\u2019s fascination with water continued until the end of her career, Sea Level <\/em>(1976)<\/a> and Regatta <\/em>(1986)<\/a>, both in the Reinhard Ernst Collection, equally hint a marine theme in their title and colour palette, whilst never betraying Abstraction. Whether violent storms and the soothing blues of the ensuing calm, or the tidal changes and mesmerizing ways in which dancing waves split and toy with light and colour \u2013 Frankenthaler deeply understood the sea and its meaning for art. The artist\u2019s continuously developing technique and pictorial language a commitment to accepting change as the only constant.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Helen Frankenthaler, Regatta, 1986, Museum Reinhard Ernst,VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; \u00a9 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, New York<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Helen Frankenthaler, Sea Level, 1976, Museum Reinhard Ernst,VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; \u00a9 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, New York<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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A visit to Provincetown should not only include sunbathing on its long sandy beaches, or a promenade along Commercial St. with its quaint and picturesque wooden houses, but also a morning or afternoon at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum<\/a>. PAAM houses many artistic treasures, including Frankenthaler\u2019s Provincetown Series<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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We very much hope you enjoyed reading this series focussing on Frankenthaler\u2019s travels! You can find out more about the artist and her experience at Hofmann\u2019s art summer school in our Podcast (in German): Frankenthaler<\/a> \u2013 available on all platforms, or visit our critically acclaimed exhibition Helen Frankenthaler. Move and Make <\/em><\/a>at the Museum Reinhard Ernst until 5th October 2025.<\/p>\n

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Text: Ines Gutierrez, Museum Reinhard Ernst<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Photo: Ruth Curtis \u00a9 Unsplash<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Photo: Andrew Castillo \u00a9 Unsplash<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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With many thanks for their assistance in researching and providing images:<\/p>\n