Madame Butterfly

Helen Frankenthaler
United States of America
1928 – 2011

Yasuyuki Shibata, woodblock carver and printer
Japan

Madame Butterfly
2000
coloured woodcut from 46 woodblocks on three sheets of paper
Place made
published by Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York
Medium
coloured woodcut from 46 woodblocks on three sheets of paper
State
33/33 + 14 Artists proofs
Dimensions
106.0 x 201.9 cm (image overall)
106.0 x 67.3 cm (sheet each)
Credit line
Gift of Colin and Robyn Cowan, James Darling AM, Lesley Forwood, Dr Michael and Janet Hayes, Kate Jordan Moore, Gosia Kudra-Schild, Shane Le Plastrier, Joan Lyons, David and Pam McKee, Diana McLaurin, Jan Murphy and Peter Walker through the Helen Frankenthaler Appeal 2017
Accession number
20172G1
Signature and date
Signed and dated l.r., pencil, "... Frankenthaler/ '100" .
Media category
Print
Collection area
American prints
Copyright
© Estate of Helen Frankenthaler/Licensed by Copyright Agency

  • Helen Frankenthaler was a leading exponent of American Abstract Expressionism. Her bold and lyrical works were rooted in spontaneous and instinctive gestures. Working on a large scale, she applied thinned synthetic polymer paint to unprimed canvas, a technique that enabled her, literally, to sink the image into its surface. This resulted in paintings of a flat, stained appearance, which made the relationship between the elements of her compositions ambiguous.

    Madame Butterfly is the culmination of Frankenthaler’s experimentation in the woodcut medium. Working closely with master printer Kenneth Tyler, as well as with Japanese printer Yasuyuki Shibata and paper-maker Tom Strianese, Frankenthaler sought to translate the appearance of her paintings into the woodcut medium. The final work is composed of over 100 colour woodcuts from forty-six woodblocks and is printed on handmade paper rendered to look like wood. Although traditionally used to create crisp outlines, in Frankenthaler’s print the woodcut appears as delicate as a watercolour.

    Maria Zagala, Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs

  • Ways of Seeing: Recent acquisitions from the collection

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 23 February 2019 – 22 April 2019
  • [Book] AGSA 500.