Madame Butterfly
7:00 AM |
| Helen Frankenthaler, Madame Butterfly, 2000 |
Helen Frankenthaler exposes emotions of vulnerability, calmness, and femininity in her Madame Butterfly painting. Frankenthaler used 102 colors, all off which compliment each other. The multiple assortment of colors encourages the mind to intentionally look closer at the thin lines. Frankenthaler, born in 1928, contributed to both 1950s abstract expressionism and 1960s color-field painters. Madame Butterfly displays abstract techniques by using misty colors, leaving the butterfly not completely exposed. During the cold war, structure and order assimilated in United States ideology, and abstract painters were often frowned upon. During the 1960s, Frankenthaler changed her style by using bigger blots of paint, in which she encourages views to focus on the colors. Randomness and color defined Frankenthaler’s paintings.
Frankenthaler used the Japanese technique of separating Madame Butterfly in three separate canvases. The two outside sections compliment each other with a lighter shades, which gives the butterfly a glowing effect. Towards the end of Frankenthaler’s career, her work transformed into acalming sensations. Her stokes display less tension and feel like a connected symphony of thin lines. The darker shade of purple creates mystery and adds layers of drama to the butterfly.
Frankenthaler used the Japanese technique of separating Madame Butterfly in three separate canvases. The two outside sections compliment each other with a lighter shades, which gives the butterfly a glowing effect. Towards the end of Frankenthaler’s career, her work transformed into acalming sensations. Her stokes display less tension and feel like a connected symphony of thin lines. The darker shade of purple creates mystery and adds layers of drama to the butterfly.
Besides visual pleasure, Madame Butterfly advocates for femininity. Within its name “Madame” encourages viewers to create a female image. The openness of the butterfly’s wings display outside elegance while exposing the beauty inside the butterfly. Madame butterfly’s wings makes the viewer feel free, while the focus is drawn to the assortment of color inside the butterfly. Overall, the culture, elegance, beauty, and freedom painted in Madame Butterfly gives the viewer a weightless feeling. Almost as if the viewers were the butterfly.
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