Flirt

A wash of coral and peach floats across this canvas like colored light through fabric. Helen Frankenthaler painted "Flirt" in 1972 using the soak-stain method she is famous for, thinning her paints and pouring them right onto raw, unprimed canvas. Instead of resting on the surface, the color soaks into the weave, which is why everything looks so soft and glowing. Scattered across the pink field you will spot an orange smudge on the left, a rich magenta swirl near the middle, and a few bright green strokes that seem to have been dropped in on a whim.

Frankenthaler helped shape Color Field painting, a style built around large stretches of pure color and mood rather than clear pictures of things. She first tried her pouring technique in 1952, and it went on to shape the work of many painters who came after her. The name "Flirt" fits the mood perfectly, with all those little dots and dashes darting around the calm pink like they are playing a game and refusing to sit still. Quiet and unhurried, the painting keeps a few small surprises hidden in its gentle spaces for anyone willing to keep looking.