Yellow Span

1968
Not on view
Frankenthaler is celebrated for her "soak-stain" paintings, whose aesthetic she translated for prints such as Yellow Span, her first intaglio work. Rather than incise the printing plate with an etching needle, she used aquatint, a method that allowed her to paint a sugar solution on the plate’s surface and create the sheer stains and layered washes of color she was known for. Undulating forms seem suspended in space, mirroring the gravity-defying stains Frankenthaler made in her paintings by working with the canvas on the floor. This print shows Frankenthaler’s mastery of color. It is dominated by a vibrant yellow that floats atop billowing waves of blue, green, and orange. Traces of white from the paper support provide a thin outline for the colored forms, preventing them from bleeding into each other.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Yellow Span
  • Artist: Helen Frankenthaler (American, New York 1928–2011 Darien, Connecticut)
  • Publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions
  • Date: 1968
  • Medium: Sugar-lift aquatint
  • Dimensions: sheet: 19 13/16 x 26 1/8 in. (50.3 x 66.4 cm)
    plate: 13 7/8 x 18 11/16 in. (35.2 x 47.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: John B. Turner Fund, 1970
  • Object Number: 69.610.1
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.