Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler (born 1928) is regarded as one of the major painters of postwar American Abstract Expressionism. Frankenthaler first studied art at the Dalton School in New York, and then at Bennington College in Vermont.
In the 1950s, Frankenthaler was inspired by American Abstract Expressionism, especially by the work of Jackson Pollock. She began to experiment with pouring paint directly onto canvas but unlike Pollock, Frankenthaler used thinned paint on untreated canvases, creating the effect of a large watercolor; this revolutionary technique launched the second generation of the Color Field school of painting. Even though her poured works appear nonrepresentational, they are often based on real or imaginary landscapes.
Frankenthaler participated in the documenta II in Kassel and has held numerous international exhibitions, including important retrospectives at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Frankenthaler has taught at New York University, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and was married to American painter Robert Motherwell until 1971. She died in 2011 after a long disease.
Related Works
- Frankenthaler was married to Robert Motherwell, another Abstract Expressionist who was profoundly influenced by ink wash painting and other East Asian calligraphy techniques. View his work.
- Fellow Abstract Expressionist Sam Francis has a similarly energetic (although slightly less ethereal and atmospheric) style. View his work.
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Women in Print
25 Sep - 23 Dec 2020Women in Print tells the often-overlooked story of female-founded print workshops, which kickstarted an American printmaking renaissance in the 1960s in 1970s that continues today. Prior to the 1960s, printmaking...Read more -
Chromo
Annual Winter/Spring Print Show 31 Jan - 4 Jul 2020El Anatsui, Mel Bochner, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Sol LeWitt, Mark Mulroney, Bruce Nauman, Louise Nevelson, Mimmo Paladino, Hayal Pozanti, Robert Rauschenberg, Bridget Riley, Ed Ruscha, Jonas Wood at Zane Bennett Contemporary ArtRead more -
Master Prints of the '70s - '90s
27 Feb - 20 Mar 2015ZBCA will unveil for the first time our latest acquisitions, including works by Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Helen Frankenthaler, Jim Dine, Rufino Tamayo, Bernar Venet, and Robert Motherwell among others.Read more -
Contemporary Masters and Mosset
26 Aug - 23 Sep 2011A vibrant exhibition of prints celebrating the 20th century's greatest contemporary master artists including Jim Dine, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler and Ellsworth Kelly among others. Also featured are prints and...Read more