Bancroft Elementary School
Art Appreciation Program
Presents
“The Bay”
by
Frankenthaler
1928 -2011
Lesson Summary:
 This lesson discusses the American artist, Helen Frankenthaler,
and the manner in which she uses harmonious fields of color in her
very large abstract artwork.
© 2009 Bancroft Art Appreciation Committee
VOLUNTEER CHECKLIST
Lesson Information
Artist:
Helen Frankenthaler (1928 -)
Art Title:
“The Bay”
Period or Style:
Color Field
Art Element:
Color
Project/Medium:
Creating a watercolor stain painting
Prep-work Required
Discussion:
Familiarize yourself with current lesson details
Art Activity:
Read project instructions CAREFULLY, cut pieces of canvas
if needed
Presentation Materials
Electronic Images:
Printouts
Frankenthaler in Studio, 1969;
Mountains and Sea; Mother Goose;
Indian Summer; Lush Spring; Southern
Exposure; Flood; The Bay
Frankenthaler in her studio; variety of
artwork
On “thumb” drive
in art cabinet
In folder
Project sample/Landscapes photos
Lesson Plan:
Frankenthaler
In folder
Art Topic:
Color Wheel
On wall in art room
Activity Materials
Pieces of unprimed cotton canvas 11”x11”
1 each per student
Trays of liquid watercolor paints
Variety enough to
share
1” sponge brushes, watercolor brushes, pipettes and water
cups, paper towels, white crayons to draw lines with that will
resist paint. Sharpies for names on back
1 each per student
Newspaper to cover desks
For each student
© 2009 Bancroft Art Appreciation Committee
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FRANKENTHALER LESSON PLAN
Lesson Objectives
 To introduce students to the life of American artist, Helen Frankenthaler, who
created colorful “stain paintings.”
 To learn about the art term “COLOR” and to familiarize students with the
concepts of color-field painting style and abstract/non-representational art.
Presentation Timing
 With Second Grade students, it is important that you KEEP THE ARTIST
DISCUSSION SIMPLE. Remember; spend 20% on the discussion portion and
80% on the art activity. Share with students 3-5 important facts about the
artist from the lesson plan.
Helen Frankenthaler
 Helen Frankenthaler was born in New York City in 1928. Who knows where NYC
is? Show map.
 Helen had a comfortable childhood in a privileged New York Jewish family. Her
father was Alfred Frankenthaler, a highly respected New York State Supreme
Court Judge.
 Her comfortable New York background exposed her to the cultural life of the
great city and gave her the opportunity to go to the most progressive schools
and study with encouraging artists. This along with her willfulness gave her a
solid base for success.
 She knew by the age of 16 that she wanted to become an artist. She studied
art in high school at Dalton in NYC and then at Bennington College in Vermont.
After graduation, she returned to NYC and began experimenting with a new
ways of painting.
 She was introduced to Jackson Pollock who laid his canvas on the floor and
splattered and poured paint rather than brushed it on. She was very inspired
by him.
 After this she began pouring thinned oil paint onto her canvas, working from all
four sides of the canvas. The paints almost looked like watercolors as they
soaked into the canvas. Her canvases were huge-some ten feet high and as big
as a wall!
© 2009 Bancroft Art Appreciation Committee
3
 Once the canvas was soaked with color, texture was eliminated and the flatness
of the canvas was accentuated. The placement of shapes and colors in her
painting create a feeling of airiness as well as energy.
 Although her paintings are very abstract they still have references to
landscapes or places that inspired her or her own childhood memories.
 She simplified these images/memories into just their color forms. They evoked
a similar emotional response as a representational drawing or painting would.
This is the power of color. (Show slide show of her paintings)
 Her work became well known and respected in the art world in the 1950's,
bringing her much recognition and many honors.
 She taught in a number of colleges and universities, including Yale, New York
University, Harvard and Princeton, and has had shows at the Whitney Museum
of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art in
New York, as well as around the world
 Helen Frankenthaler died in 2011 in her home in Darien, Connecticut.
Color Field Painting
 Frankenthaler was considered a Color Field painter.
 Color Field painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in New York
City during the 1940s and 1950s.
 It was inspired by European modernism and closely related to Abstract
Expressionism.

Color Field is characterized primarily by large fields of flat, solid color spread
across or stained into the canvas; creating areas of unbroken surface and a flat
picture plane. The movement places less emphasis on gesture, brushstrokes and
action in favor of an overall consistency of form and process.
 These artworks were often gigantic pieces of art and the fields of color gave a
similar effect as being in a ‘field’ of wheat or vast expanse of ocean or sky.
 During the late 1950s and 1960s, Color field artists painted stripes, targets,
simple geometric patterns and references to landscapes and to nature.
© 2009 Bancroft Art Appreciation Committee
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Color
 Color is the magic part of art. Color can be light or dark, bright or dull. Color
can be repeated to pull all the parts of a painting together or to create
movement. Dark and cool colors tend to fade into a painting while bright and
warm colors tend to pop out. A color changes when another color is added.
 (Show color wheel.) Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel are
easily blended and have a nice flow. Complementary colors or colors across
from each other on the wheel tend to excite emotions.
 What is your favorite color? What color is next to your favorite color on the
wheel? What color is opposite your favorite color on the wheel?
© 2009 Bancroft Art Appreciation Committee
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Art Activity
 Cover the tables with newspaper-it is a messy project!
 Ask the students to think about a beautiful scene they remember from a
vacation or field trip. Have them look at photos of different landscapes that
you can hang by the white board. Maybe one of them is their favorite. Remind
them that Frankenthaler’s paintings were often of places she had been. They
can look at the photos or remember something and blur it in their mind until it
is just the colors they see. This will be their painting.
 Hand out a piece of canvas.
 Have trays of liquid watercolor of many colors on tables and sponge brushes,
watercolor brushes for all the colors.
 Since they will be creating a ‘stain painting’ they can also use the pipettes to
drop color on their artwork.
 The will also need some water cups and paper towels.
 First their name and teacher’s name will have to be written with sharpies on the
back.
 Have them listen carefully before starting so they can have success with their
painting. These paintings will not take a long time to make so encourage them to
work slowly.
 Optional: If they want to try to keep an area free from color and create a
design they can draw some lines with white crayon before they start painting.
 Working with one color at a time have them slowly build up their painting. The
canvas is slow to absorb the color and it may need to be rubbed in at first with
a brush.
 After the canvas is wet they can use the pipettes to drop or stain with color
and it will absorb and ‘travel’ to create interesting effects.
 Remind them that having a little area white or unpainted is nice too.
 Try to collect quickly when they are finished so students are not tempted to
over paint and created a brown painting.
 Dry on the drying rack and collect for portfolios or leave in the art room in
artwork bin.
© 2009 Bancroft Art Appreciation Committee
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