Western Pacific

Creative rationale

Over the warm waters of the western Pacific near 15°N 160°E, far from any landmass in the vast oceanic expanse between Hawaii and the Philippines, tropical warmth and high humidity create ideal conditions for Frankenthaler's luminous color field approach. The moderate easterly winds at 6.9 m/s from 82 degrees guide gentle horizontal flows of translucent color washes, while the high relative humidity of 77% calls for deeply layered transparent veils that soak and blend into each other. The warm 28°K temperature with its significant positive anomaly translates into glowing salmon pinks and golden ochres that pool and spread across the canvas like watercolor on wet paper, with the moderate pressure gradient creating subtle diagonal flows that tilt the color fields from upper left toward lower right.