Untitled

Turquoise floods this busy canvas by Helen Frankenthaler, giving the whole thing a jumpy, restless mood. Scattered across that blue are patches of orange, red, yellow, and brown, along with scribbled lines and half-formed shapes that might be faces or objects, or might be nothing at all. The painting feels like a snapshot of an artist thinking out loud, letting her hand wander without worrying about neatness or order.

Frankenthaler earned her place in American abstract art by inventing a method called "soak-stain," where she poured watered-down paint straight onto bare canvas so the colors would soak into the cloth like dye. This piece from 1970 shows a rougher, more crowded version of her style, packed with thick strokes and bold marks instead of the gentle washes she was famous for. The more time you spend with it, the more small hidden forms seem to surface, though whether they were planned or happy accidents is anyone's guess.