Western Pacific

Creative rationale

Over the Western Pacific near the Philippines, where warm tropical waters meet variable atmospheric pressures, the moderate humidity and gentle westerly winds create conditions ripe for Frankenthaler's signature color-field approach. The significant temperature anomaly of 17°C above normal translates into luminous warm washes of salmon and golden ochre that pool and spread across the canvas, while the moderate pressure gradient of 33 Pa/cell creates subtle directional flows. The 56% humidity allows for semi-transparent layering where colors bleed into each other but retain some opacity, and the 5.6 m/s wind from 293 degrees guides the stain patterns in a northwest-to-southeast drift.