Helen Frankenthaler: To create
“Painted on 21st Street,” (1950-51), Frankenthaler used oil paint, sand,
plaster of Paris, and coffee grounds. This is one of her early works, which
reflects her looking at Abstract Expressionist painters such as Jackson
Pollock, who often included non-art materials – cigarette butts or enamel house
paints, for example, in Pollock’s case – in their work. It is not typical of
the artist’s most recognized technique of pouring paint on unprimed canvas,
which led to her being associated with Color Field artists. See this piece on
view in Masterworks from the Hirshhorn Collection