Seven Types of Ambiguity
Seven Types of Ambiguity
Artist
Helen Frankenthaler
(1928 - 2011)
Date1957
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions95 1/2 × 70 1/8 in. (242.6 × 178.1 cm)
Framed: 97 1/2 × 71 1/2 × 2 1/4 in.
Framed: 97 1/2 × 71 1/2 × 2 1/4 in.
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2015.11
Signedl.r., in red paint: frankenthaler / 57
Accession number
2015.11
On View
Not on viewLabel Text“The only rule is that there are no rules. Anything is possible . . . . It’s all about risk, deliberate risks.”
– Helen Frankenthaler
Frankenthaler developed her “soak-stain” technique by pouring highly thinned paint onto an unprimed canvas laid flat on the floor, a method that allowed the paint to soak into the weave of the fabric, fusing paint and canvas into one. She referred to the areas where paint colors expanded into one another as “well-ordered collisions” which were only partly under her control. This reduced the presence of the artist’s gestures in the painting while emphasizing the nature of canvas (porous) and paint (staining). The result can evoke a giant watercolor, perhaps a result of Frankenthaler’s lifelong passion for swimming and observing the changing surfaces of the sea.
Inscribedverso, u.l., on stretcher, in black marker: SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY
Markingsverso, u.l., label: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF ARTS / 305 EAST 47TH STREET, 10TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10017 / Color as Field: American Painting, 1950-1975 / Organized by the American Federation of Arts / Helen Frankenthaler, "Seven Types of Ambiguity", 1957 / 11/9/07 - 02/3/08: Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO / 02/29/08 - 05/26/08: Smithsonian American Art Museum, / Washington, DC / 06/20/08 - 09/21/08: Frist Center for the Visual Arts, / Nashville, TN
verso, u.l., label: GAGOSIAN GALLERY / 555 WEST 24TH STREET NEW YORK NY 10011 / HELEN FRANKENTHALER / Seven Types of Ambiguity, 1957 / Oil on unprimed canvas / 95 1/2 x 70 1/8 inches / 242.6 x 178.1 cm / (FRANK 1957.0007)
verso, u.l., label: the 7 santini / brothers / 44 / MOVING STORAGE SHIPPING PACKING / 4689
verso, u.l., label: steven sloman / fine arts / photography / [logo] / 54 second avenue / new york, n.y. 10003 / negative # / HF-1021-E-11.9.81 / © Copyright by Steven Sloman
verso, u.l., label: Columbus 5-4600 / The 7 Santini / Brothers / FAST MOVING / 1158 / 3291
verso, u.l., label: Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin / Unter den Linden 13-15 / 10117 Berlin / LN 14.98 / Ausstellung Helen Frankenthaler: Mountains and Sea und die / Jahre danach 1956 - 1959, 15.10.1998 - 31.1.1999 / Helen Frankenthaler, Seven Types of Ambiguity, 1957 / Oil on unprimed canvas, 242,6 x 178,1 cm / Private Collection / DEUTSCHE BANK & SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION
verso, u.l., label: Fundacion Museo Guggenheim Bilbao / Avda. Abandoibarra 2 48001 - Bilbao (Spain) / Phone: 34 4 435 90 00 Fax: 34 4 435 90 30 / LN 14.98 / Artist: Helen Frankenthaler / Title: Seven Types of Ambiguity Date: 1957 / Medium: Oil on unprimed canvas Dimens: 242.6 x 178.1 cm / Ex. Title: After Mountains and Sea: Helen Frankenthaler 1956-59 Dates: 7/06/98 2/09/98 / Venues: [left blank]
verso, u.l., label: SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM / AFTER MOUNTAINS AND SEA: FRANKENTHALER 1956-59 / January 16 - May 3, 1998 / Loan Numbe: 14.98 / Artist: Helen Frankenthaler / Title: Seven Types of Ambiguity, 1957 / Medium: Oil on unprimed canvas / Dims: 242.6 x 178.1 cm (95 1/2 x 70 1/8) / Lender: Helen Frankenthaler
