Helen FrankenthalerLilac Sweep2006
2006
About the Item
- Creator:Helen Frankenthaler (1928, American)
- Creation Year:2006
- Dimensions:Height: 22.25 in (56.52 cm)Width: 27.5 in (69.85 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU118526581972
Helen Frankenthaler
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- MercuryBy Sam FrancisLocated in New York, NY1963 Lithograph in colors, on Rives BFK paper Sheet: 23 7/10 x 18 7/10 in. (60.2 x 47.5 cm) Edition of 20 Signed and numbered in pencil, lower margin Unframed, excellent conditionCategory
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsPaper, Lithograph
- Cicada (ULAE 213)By Jasper JohnsLocated in New York, NY1981 Lithograph in colors, on Arches 88 wove paper Sheet: 35 x 26 in. Edition of 58 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin FramedCategory
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsPaper, Lithograph
- Mediterranean LightBy Robert MotherwellLocated in New York, NY1991 Lithograph in colors, on white TGL handmade paper Sheet: 32 2/5 x 76 inches Edition of 40 Signed and numbered in pencil FramedCategory
1990s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Seventeen Lithographs for Frank O'Hara: One plateBy Willem de KooningLocated in New York, NY1988 Lithograph hors-texte, on hand-made Japanese Yame paper chine collé to handmade Twinrocker paper Sheet: 29 3/4 x 25 in. (75.6 x 63.5 cm) Edition of 60 + 8AP Signed and numbered ...Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Seventeen Lithographs for Frank O'Hara: One plateBy Willem de KooningLocated in New York, NY1988 Lithograph hors-texte, on hand-made Japanese Yame paper chine collé to handmade Twinrocker paper Sheet: 29 3/4 x 25 in. (75.6 x 63.5 cm) Edition of 60 + 8AP Signed and numbered ...Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- CicadaBy Jasper JohnsLocated in New York, NYLithograph in colors, on Arches 88 paper Sheet: 35 x 25 7/8 in. (88.9 x 65.7 cm) Edition of 58 + 12AP Signed, dated and numbered in pencilCategory
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Set of Eyes, Color Lithograph, Belgian Abstract Expressionist Tamarind PrintBy Dirk de BruyckerLocated in Surfside, FLSigned, dated and titled. Initialed and dated lower right, each numbered 8/20, lower left. 9 x 6 image size, 22 x 15 in. sheet size. With the blindstamp of the Tamarind Institute pri...Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Archival Paper
- Monograph: Philip Guston (Hand signed, inscribed and dated to a major collector)By Philip GustonLocated in New York, NYPhilip Guston Monograph: Philip Guston (Hand signed and inscribed to major collector by Philip Guston), 1980 Softback monograph (hand signed, inscribed and dated by Philip Guston to Mary Keesling) Warmly signed and inscribed by Philip Guston to Mary Keesling on the title page 10 1/4 × 9 × 3/4 inches If you're reading this description, then we hardly need to tell you, dear collector and Guston enthusiast, that autographed books...Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist More Art
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset
- Return, from the Octavio Paz Suite (unique signed position proof) Engberg/BanachBy Robert MotherwellLocated in New York, NYRobert Motherwell Return, from the Octavio Paz Suite, 1988 Lithograph and chine appliqué on watermarked Japanese Gampi hand made paper applied on Arches paper Hand-signed by artist, ...Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsHandmade Paper, Lithograph
- Mask Collotype on PaperBy Patricia A. PearceLocated in Soquel, CAMask Collotype on Paper Bold lithograph of an abstracted mask by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). Signed in the bottom right corner, "Patricia A. Pearce." Presented in a new ...Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Lithograph
- Time And Space - Black and White Lithograph On PaperBy I. ColonLocated in Soquel, CAStriking abstract expressionist lithograph by I. Colon (20th Century). An open hand with a baby in the palm is the focal point with objects, including a spaceship, an eye and doodles...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Figurative Prints
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Lithograph
- Monograph titled FLARE Thomas Nozkowski Images (hand signed by Thomas Nozkowski)By Thomas NozkowskiLocated in New York, NYThomas Nozkowski Flare: Thomas Nozkowski Images (hand signed by Thomas Nozkowski), 2009 Limited Edition monograph on fine art paper (hand signed and dated by Thomas Nozkowski on the ...Category
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset