Exhibitions

‘Flotilla’ takes its name from the nautical term meaning a small military formation of boats or ships, though Frankenthaler’s scene appears to feature only a singular ship on its screenprinted horizon. The present work includes all the common features of a traditional maritime scene: a sea fog, the dusky lighting of a setting sun and a silhouetted ship. The ship sits poised on the horizon line, lit by the sky in its golden hour, whilst a blue fog rolls in from the left. However, Frankenthaler ensures that ‘Flotilla’ reinterprets the traditional Turner-esque maritime scene, reimagining it through the lens of an Abstract Expressionist. Frankenthaler was an avid printmaker, often focusing on the woodcutting process, but she also branched into lithography and sometimes screenprinting, as was her chosen method for this work. She enjoyed pushing the boundaries of printmaking through her Colour Field or ‘Soak and Stain’ method, and ‘Flotilla’ is a prime example of this. Her abstract subject, diverse colour palette and trademark technique are all realised in this later work and demonstrate both her skill as an artist and a printmaker.