Helen Frankenthaler Art
American, 1928-2011
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.
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Artist: Helen Frankenthaler
Skywriter
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Helen Frankenthaler
Skywriting, 1997
Signed and numbered in Pencil
Screenprint in colors on wove paper
30 x 40
PP 4/6
Printed at Brand X
Brand x stamp is on the Verso
Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Screen
Plaza Real
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color soft-ground etching, etching and aquatint on White Rives BFK paper. Signed, dated and numbered 55/60 in pencil, lower margin. Printed and publish...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Color, Etching, Aquatint
Causeway
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Printed by Universal Limited Art Editions. Edition 65 of 100
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
UNTITLED, What Red Lines Can Do Series, Screen Print
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Detroit, MI
"Untitled" lithograph from Frakenthaler's What Red Lines Can Do Series. Signed and dated, with the numbers 55/9/75 on the lower front right. Color screen print on white arches handmade cold press paper.
Helen Frankenthaler was born on December 12, 1928 in New York City, the daughter of a New York Supreme Court judge and a family of Jewish immigrants from Germany who emphasized culture and intellectual pursuits and continue to be active to this day such as through nephew, the artist and photographer Clifford...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Lithograph
Altitudes
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011)
Title: "Altitudes"
*Signed, dated, and numbered by Frankenthaler in pencil lower right
Year: 1978
Medium: Original Lithograph on light yellow-pink J.B. Green Hayle Mill Bodleian handmade paper
Limited edition: 29/42
Printer: Bill Goldston and John A. Lund of Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, NY
Publisher: Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, NY
Reference: "Frankenthaler: A Catalogue Raisonné - Prints 1961-1994" - Harrison No. 72, page 264, 268-270; ULAE - Sparks No. 33, page 88, 323; Clark No. 67; Williams No. 67
Sheet size (irregular margins): 22.25" x 30.88"
Condition: Remnants of previous mounting tape on verso. In excellent condition with strong colors
Very rare
Notes:
Provenance: private collection - New York, NY; private collection - notable fashion illustrator Jay Hyde Crawford, New York, NY, acquired from an art gallery in New York, NY; likely acquired directly from the publisher ULAE. Lithograph drawn with tusche wash. Printed in two colors from two stones: red and green. ULAE chop mark/blind stamp lower right.
"Frankenthaler: A Catalogue Raisonné - Prints 1961-1994" - Harrison - "Frankenthaler carefully chose a European handmade paper that would add another color and texture to the print" ... "By contrast, in "Altitudes", the artist created a bleed image so that the sheet of paper is smaller than the stone's image and the large red tusche wash sweeps across the surface of the yellow-pink J.B. Green Hayle Mill Bodleian paper, becoming warmed and enhanced by its color and texture."
"Universal Limited Art Editions - A History and Catalogue: The First Twenty-Five Years" - Sparks - "In "Bronze Smoke" (cat. no. 32), "Altitudes" (cat. no. 33), and "Door" (cat. no. 34), minimal compositions were replaced by fields of drifting, multilayered color, as rich and satisfying as her work on a much grander scale."
Biography:
Frankenthaler was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Handmade Paper, Lithograph
Flotilla, Abstract Expressionist Silkscreen by Helen Frankenthaler
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Long Island City, NY
This screenprint is a recreation of a painting of the same name by abstract expressionist artist Helen Frankenthaler. Flotilla is a small formation of warships, often in a naval cont...
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Screen
Sun Corner
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011)
Title: "Sun Corner"
Portfolio: The Metropolitan Scene
*Signed, dated, and numbered by Frankenthaler (inscribed into the metal) lower right
Year: 1968
Medium: Original Screenprint on core-filled, baked aluminum panel
Limited edition: 17/50
Printer: Sheila Marbain of Maurel Studios, New York, NY
Publisher: Tanglewood Press, New York, NY
Reference: "Frankenthaler: A Catalogue Raisonné - Prints 1961-1994" - Harrison No. 12, page 90-91; Berggruen No. 13; Clark No. 13
Framing: Recently framed in a white maple moulding and conservation clear glass with frame-space. All archival
Framed size: 37.38" x 37.38"
Sheet size: 36.13" x 36.13"
Image size: approx. 32" x 32"
Condition: Faint crease upper right. Mild creasing lower right. Some light scuffmarks and scratches across sheet. In otherwise very good condition with strong colors
Very rare
Notes:
Provenance: private collection - Upton, MA. Comes from the 1968 "The Metropolitan Scene" portfolio of 5 screenprints by various artists. Printed in four colors from four screens: blue, orange-red, green, and yellow. This is the third screenprint edition Frankenthaler ever made.
"The Metropolitan Scene", a portfolio of prints by Richard Anuszkiewicz, Helen Frankenthaler, Adolph Gottlieb, Nicholas Krushenick, Roy Lichtenstein, and George Segal, was commissioned for a traveling exhibition organized by the Education Department of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. The museum received ten Roman-numbered copies for this purpose. Tanglewood Press then released all but Gottlieb's print in numbered editions of fifty. (Gottlieb's contract with Marlborough Gallery, New York, NY, did not permit commercial release of his print by the publisher).
"Air Frame" (cat. no. 6) was Frankenthaler's first silkscreen - a medium that Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, NY did not use, although it became increasingly popular for artists' prints, both in Europe and the United States, during the sixties. Several other silkscreens followed in the next few years: "Untitled" (cat no. 11), in 1967, and "Sun Corner" (cat. no. 12) by Tanglewood Press, New York, in 1968. - "What Red Lines Can Do" (cat. nos. 22-26) is a suite of silkscreens published by Multiples, Inc., at that time directed by Rosa Esman, in 1970. - (Harrison - page 19).
Biography:
Frankenthaler was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Metal
Spring Run XVI
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Vivid color monotype by American Abstract Expressionist artist Helen Frankenthaler, signed by the artist in pencil, lower right. Printed and published in collaboration with Tyler Graphics...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Monotype
"Parets" original colograph by Helen Frankenthaler
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Hinsdale, IL
Helen Frankenthaler
(1928-2011)
"Parets"
Collagraph drawn with Araldite glue, c. 1988
Printed in light burnt sienna from one steel plate, off white handmade paper
Signed in lowe...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Mixed Media
Book: Works on Paper 1949-1984 (Hand signed & inscribed by Helen Frankenthaler)
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Winning buyer: Try entering code FREESHIP for complimentary packing and shipping at checkout. (Some exceptions apply)
Helen Frankenthaler
Frankenthaler, Works on Paper 1949-1984 (Han...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Offset
The Darker Palette
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Helen Frankenthaler
Frankenthaler: The Darker Palette (Hand signed twice and inscribed), 1998
Offset Lithograph
42 × 35 in
Edition of 100
hand signed "Frankenthaler" lower left; insc...
Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Offset
Yellow Jack
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this large lithograph with strong colors and stencil on White Arches Cover paper. Signed, dated "'85-'87" and numbered 51/54 in pencil by Frankenthaler. Printed and published by Tyler Graphics...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Color, Lithograph, Stencil
Solar Imp
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color screenprint on cream wove paper. Signed and numbered 112/126 in pencil by Frankenthaler. Printed by Brand X Editions, Ltd., New York. Published b...
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Color, Screen
Frankenthaler (Hand signed and inscribed)
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Helen Frankenthaler
Frankenthaler (Hand signed and inscribed), 1988
Offset lithograph (hand signed and inscribed to renowned collectors)
Hand signed and warmly inscribed in ink on th...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Offset
Un poco más
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Tbilisi, GE
Signed
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Lithograph
Parets
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Tbilisi, GE
Signed
Category
1980s Contemporary Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Etching
Midnight
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
DESCRIPTION
aquatint and drypoint printed in colors, signed in pencil, dated, numbered 43/71 (total edition includes eight artist's proofs), on Magnani wove paper, with the blindstam...
Category
1980s Post-War Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Drypoint, Aquatint
Wind Directions
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Helen Frankenthaler
Wind Directions, 1970
Color Pochoir
30.50h x 22.25w in
Category
1970s Post-War Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Monoprint
Mary, Mary
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in London, GB
Screenprint and offset lithograph in colours, 1987, on wove paper, signed in pencil by the artist, one of 10 printer's proofs, aside from standard edition of 72, published by Lincoln...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Offset, Screen
Figure in a Landscape
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Helen Frankenthaler
Figure in a Landscape, 1960
Oil on canvas
57 x 73 inches
144.8 x 185.4 cm
Signed: Frankenthaler (center right verso)
--
Helen Frankenthaler was born in New Yor...
Category
1960s Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Oil
Tribal Sign
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in London, GB
Lithograph in colours, 1987, on TGL handmade paper, signed, dated and numbered in pencil, inscribed "PP II", a printer’s proof aside from the edition of 47, published by Tyler Graphi...
Category
1980s Abstract Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Handmade Paper, Lithograph
Tribal Sign
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Tribal Sign, 1987
Signed and dated in pencil with publisher's blindstamp
Eleven color lithograph on mauve TGL handmade paper
Sheet: 24 x 18.5 inches
Frame: 33 x 27 inches
Edition 25 ...
Category
1980s Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Color, Lithograph
Snow Pines
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
2004
Thirty-four color Ukiyo-e woodcut printed from 16 woodblocks on Torinoko paper and mounted onto Fabriano Classico paper
Image/sheet: 37 1/2 x 26 inches
Edition of 65
Signed and ...
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Paper, Woodcut
Japanese Maple
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
2005
Sixteen color Ukiyo-e style woodcut
Image/sheet: 26 x 38 in.
Edition of 50
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Paper, Woodcut
Sudden Snow
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
1987
Lithograph in colors, on wove paper
Sheet: 31 5/8 x 23 1/2 in.
Edition of 50
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
Soho Dreams
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
1987
Etching, aquatint and drypoint in colors, on wove paper
Sheet: 15 3/4 x 18 3/4 in.
Edition of 71
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Paper, Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
Bronze Smoke
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
1978
Lithograph in colors, on brown wove paper
Sheet: 31 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.
Edition of 38
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
Weeping Crabapple
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
2009
Thirty-one color Ukiyo-e style woodcut
Image/sheet: 25 1/4 x 37 1/4 in.
Edition of 50
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Handmade Paper, Woodcut
Tales of Genji VI (from a Suite of Six Woodcuts)
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Park City, UT
Helen Frankenthaler 'Tales of Genji VI'
47 × 42 in (119.4 × 106.7 cm
Edition of 35
Hand-signed and numbered by artist on lower right with chop mark lower right and titled on verso
Category
1990s Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Linocut, Woodcut
Causeway
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
An image of ethereal beauty, Helen Frankenthaler created Causeway in 2001 after a lifetime of experimentation with etching and aquatint. Hand-signed, dated and numbered in pencil, t...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
Soho Dreams
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
1987
Color etching, aquatint, drypoint
Sheet: 15 3/4 x 18 3/4 in.
Edition of 71
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
Bronze Smoke
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
1978
Screenprint in colors
Sheet: 31 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.
Edition of 38
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Screen
Weeping Crabapple
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
2009
Thirty-one color ukiyo-e woodcut
Sheet: 25 1/4 x 37 1/4 in. (64.1 x 94.6 cm)
Edition of 50
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Woodcut
Lilac Sweep
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
2006
Lithograph in colors, on wove paper
Sheet: 22 1/4 x 27 1/2 in. (56.5 x 69.9 cm)
Edition of 35
Signed and numbered in pencil, lower margin
Framed, excellent condition
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
Weeping Crabapple
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
2009
Thirty-one color ukiyo-e woodcut
25 1/4 x 37 1/4 in. (64.1 x 94.6 cm)
Edition of 50
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Unframed, pristine condition
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Woodcut
The Red Sea
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
1978
Lithograph in colors, on pink handmade paper
Sheet: 23 1/4 x 27 22/25 inches
Edition of 58
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Framed, mint condition
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Lithograph
Aerie
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 128
Signed and numbered in pencil
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler Art
Materials
Screen
Helen Frankenthaler art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Helen Frankenthaler art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, blue, yellow and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Helen Frankenthaler in lithograph, paper, woodcut print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Helen Frankenthaler art, so small editions measuring 9 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Raymond Parker, Adolph Gottlieb, and Richard Diebenkorn. Helen Frankenthaler art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at £605 and tops out at £1,007,863, while the average work can sell for £13,001.
Artists Similar to Helen Frankenthaler
Questions About Helen Frankenthaler Art
- 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 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 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.