HELEN FRANKENTHALER
May 26 Backwards.

Color lithograph on Crisbrook British handmade buff paper, 1961. 437x360 mm; 17 1/4x14 1/4 inches, full margins. Signed, dated and numbered 7/20 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by ULAE, West Islip, with the blind stamp lower left. A very good impression of this scarce, early lithograph.

This early work by Frankenthaler (1928-2011) is only her second attempt at lithography in 1961 with the acclaimed printmaking workshop ULAE (along with First Stone, color lithograph, 1961). According to Harrison, "There are numerous pitfalls for a newcomer to printmaking . . . Frankenthaler's title, May 26 Backwards, is a wry explanation of the large "'62" in the center of the composition."

We have only found one other impression of this early lithograph at auction in the past 30 years. Harrison 2.

 

Estimate: $ 7,000 - $ 10,000