Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Prolific and pioneering painter Helen Frankenthaler said it was “a combination of impatience, laziness and innovation” that drove her to thin her paints with turpentine so that they would seep into the fabric of an unprimed canvas. Her breakthrough in the early 1950s led the way for a spellbinding new style of painting that would come to be known as Color Field.
Although Color Field is often considered a strain of Abstract Expressionism, Frankenthaler’s work differed from the gestural “Action Painting” that typified the paintings of artists like Willem de Kooning and Lee Krasner. Her vast and immersive expanses of color created at a fearless scale captivated art critics and greatly influenced her peers including Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland.
Frankenthaler knew from an early age that she wanted to be a painter. The youngest daughter of a New York State Supreme Court justice, she grew up on Manhattan’s Park Avenue and as a child delighted in the little ways color and form revealed themselves, whether dribbling red nail polish in a sink full of water or drawing her steps from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to her family’s apartment. As a student at Bennington College, her rare vision was enriched by the mentorship of painter Paul Feeley, who gave her lessons in Cubism. After dabbling in art history at Columbia University, she rented a studio downtown and befriended rising New York art stars like Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell, whom she later married.
Characterized by “direct, exuberant gestures,” the Abstract Expressionist technique was all about gusto, and Frankenthaler had it in spades. One of the few women of this era to garner widespread critical acclaim, Frankenthaler had a significant impact on the mid-20th-century art world. She exhibited in the high-profile 1951 Ninth Street Show and, in 1957, she appeared in a Life magazine spread on women artists photographed by Gordon Parks. In 1960, the Jewish Museum held her first major museum show, a retrospective of her 1950s work. A 1969 solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art further introduced Frankenthaler to the broader art world.
While Frankenthaler remains best known for bold, expressive “soak-stain” paintings such as Mountains and Sea (1952), she worked across diverse media for decades, with forays into woodcutting, drawing and printmaking that also pushed boundaries. She also taught at Harvard, Yale and Princeton, fostering generations of artists. She died in 2011.
Find original Helen Frankenthaler art on 1stDibs.
1970s North American Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paper
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Chrome
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century American Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paper
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paper
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paper
1960s American Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paper
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Glass, Paint, Paper
20th Century French Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paper
1970s American Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Metal
20th Century French Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paper
20th Century English Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paper
1980s American Modern Vintage Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paper
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
1990s American Modern Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
1990s American Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Late 20th Century American Modern Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Paper
Late 20th Century American Helen Frankenthaler Contemporary Art
Helen Frankenthaler contemporary art for sale on 1stDibs.
Creators Similar to Helen Frankenthaler
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Helen Frankenthaler was known for her Abstract-expressionist art. She became well known for her 1952 painting Mountains and Sea. It was the first time she employed the soak-stain painting technique that would become a hallmark of her later work. You'll find a variety of Helen Frankenthaler art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Helen Frankenthaler mostly did paintings. The American artist's work reflects the characteristics of Abstract Expressionism. Mountains and Sea, Snow Pines, Aerie and Grey Fireworks are among her most famous paintings. You can find a range of Helen Frankenthaler art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 1, 2024You can see Helen Frankenthaler paintings in a few places. Her works are part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in California and the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. In addition, the artist's paintings are often part of exhibitions around the world. Check the official website of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation for upcoming dates and locations. On 1stDibs, find a collection of Helen Frankenthaler art.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Helen Frankenthaler is an American abstract expressionist painter that was known for inventing a technique referred to as soak-stain. Soak staining is a process using thinned paint and raw canvas, similar to painting fabric. Shop a range of Helen Frankenthaler work on 1stDibs.