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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
"Sirocco" Mixographia
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in Newport Beach, CA
“Sirocco” by Helen Frankenthaler . Mixographia embossed engraving on handmade paper. Unique color from the regular numbered edition. 51/52. Hand signed by artist, dated 1989. Pri...
Category

Late 20th Century Helen Frankenthaler Art

Materials

Ink, Handmade Paper

Abstract Expressionist poster (Hand signed and inscribed by Henen Frankenthaler)
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 the front Frame included: Museum frame with UV plexiglass included Inscribed "to Paul and Joan, love Helen Frankenthaler" (Paul and Joan Gluck were major art collectors) Measurements: Framed 42 inches vertical by 34 inches by 1.75 inches Print 34.5 inches vertical by 27 inches Helen Frankenthaler, A Brief Biography Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), whose career spanned six decades, has long been recognized as one of the great American artists of the twentieth century. She was eminent among the second generation of postwar American abstract painters and is widely credited for playing a pivotal role in the transition from Abstract Expressionism to Color Field painting. Through her invention of the soak-stain technique, she expanded the possibilities of abstract painting, while at times referencing figuration and landscape in unique ways. She produced a body of work whose impact on contemporary art has been profound and continues to grow. Frankenthaler was born on December 12, 1928, and raised in New York City. She attended the Dalton School, where she received her earliest art instruction from Rufino Tamayo. In 1949 she graduated from Bennington College, Vermont, where she was a student of Paul Feeley. She later studied briefly with Hans Hofmann Frankenthaler’s professional exhibition career began in 1950, when Adolph Gottlieb selected her painting Beach (1950) for inclusion in the exhibition titled Fifteen Unknowns: Selected by Artists of the Kootz Gallery. Her first solo exhibition was presented in 1951, at New York’s Tibor de Nagy Gallery, and that year she was also included in the landmark exhibition 9th St. Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture. In 1952 Frankenthaler created Mountains and Sea, a breakthrough painting of American abstraction for which she poured thinned paint directly onto raw, unprimed canvas laid on the studio floor, working from all sides to create floating fields of translucent color. Mountains and Sea was immediately influential for the artists who formed the Color Field school of painting, notable among them Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. As early as 1959, Frankenthaler began to be a regular presence in major international exhibitions. She won first prize at the Premiere Biennale de Paris that year, and in 1966 she represented the United States in the 33rd Venice Biennale, alongside Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jules Olitski. She had her first major museum exhibition in 1960, at New York’s Jewish Museum, and her second, in 1969, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, followed by an international tour. Frankenthaler experimented tirelessly throughout her long career. In addition to producing unique paintings on canvas and paper, she worked in a wide range of media, including ceramics, sculpture, tapestry, and especially printmaking. Hers was a significant voice in the mid-century “print renaissance” among American abstract painters, and she is particularly renowned for her woodcuts. She continued working productively through the opening years of this century. Frankenthaler’s distinguished, prolific career has been the subject of numerous monographic museum exhibitions. The Jewish Museum and Whitney Museum shows were succeeded by a major retrospective initiated by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth that traveled to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI (1989); and those devoted to works on paper and prints organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1993), among others. Select recent important exhibitions have included Painted on 21st Street: Helen Frankenthaler from 1950 to 1959 (Gagosian, NY, 2013); Making Painting: Helen Frankenthaler and JMW Turner (Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2014); Giving Up One’s Mark: Helen Frankenthaler in the 1960s and 1970s (Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 2014–15); Pretty Raw: After and Around Helen Frankenthaler (Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 2015); As in Nature: Helen Frankenthaler, Paintings and No Rules: Helen Frankenthaler Woodcuts...
Category

1980s Color-Field Helen Frankenthaler Art

Materials

Offset, Ballpoint Pen, Lithograph

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

"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

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

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

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

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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, yellow, blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Helen Frankenthaler in lithograph, paper, screen 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, John Chamberlain, 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 $880 and tops out at $85,000, while the average work can sell for $14,500.

Artists Similar to Helen Frankenthaler

Questions About Helen Frankenthaler Art
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Helen 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.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Helen 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, 2022
    Helen 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 ExpertFebruary 1, 2024
    You 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.

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