Artist
H
Helen Frankenthaler
1928–2011
132130
Works
83
Years lived
Painter
Style
One of the most significant figures in the development of American abstraction, Helen Frankenthaler is best known for her monumental and boldly gestural canvases awash in vibrant hues.
Born in New York City, Frankenthaler received her earliest art instruction from the Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo while a student at the Dalton School in New York and studied with the influential artist and teacher Paul Feeley at Bennington College in Vermont. After graduating in 1949, she returned to New York, where she met the famous art critic Clement Greenberg and showed with the Abstract Expressionist artists. In the early 1950s, Frankenthaler developed her signature “soak stain” technique by thinning her paints with turpentine or kerosene to facilitate absorption into the canvas, achieving a translucent effect whereby matter seemingly transformed into fields of color.
Throughout her six-decade career, Frankenthaler tirelessly pushed the boundaries of her work. In addition to working with canvas and paper supports, she explored mediums such as ceramics, sculpture, tapestry, printmaking, and woodcuts. Her experimental approach was always intentional and reflective; she specifically sought to challenge formal considerations and the perception of space: “There are no rules.... That is how art is born, that is how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.”
In 2018, the Art Institute’s exhibition Helen Frankenthaler Prints: The Romance of a New Medium showed a prominent though lesser-known aspect of the artist’s work: the prints produced at Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) over nearly two decades—images that, while decidedly smaller, capture the same whimsical beauty found in her brilliant canvases.
An artist whose innovative approach to painting extended the legacy of Abstract Expressionism while helping to usher in Color Field painting, Frankenthaler continues to influence contemporary artists today.
Selected works
132130 pieces
Air Frame, from New York Ten
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011) printed by Steve Poleski published by Tanglewood Press printed by Chiron Press (American, 20th century)
Savage Breeze
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011) printed by Bill Goldston (American, born 1943) and Juda Rosenberg (American) published by Universal Limited Art Editions (American, founded 1955)
A Slice of the Stone Itself
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011) printed by Zigmunds Priede (American, born Latvia, 1935) and Bill Goldston (American, born 1943) published by Universal Limited Art Editions (American, founded 1955)
