A sweeping overview of poetic compositions from the beloved American postwar painter known for her groundbreaking and inventive approach to abstraction
Celebrated among the second generation of postwar American abstract painters, Helen Frankenthaler played a pivotal role in the transition from Abstract Expressionism to Color Field painting. Active for more than six decades, Frankenthaler emerged on the American art scene with a no-rules approach to painting, protean imagination and improvisational skills that reshaped the narrative not only for women artists but for the genre itself. With her innovative soak-stain technique, Frankenthaler explored a new relationship between color and form, expanding the potential of abstract painting in ways that continue to inspire artists today. Working with color, space, abstraction and poetry, Frankenthaler distinguished herself through her unique ability to combine technique, imagination, research and improvisation, expanding her practice beyond established canons in the pursuit of a new freedom in painting. Painting without Rules is an ambitious presentation of the poetic abstractions of one of the most significant American artists of the 20th century. It examines Frankenthaler’s artistic affinities, influences and friendships by interweaving paintings created between 1953 and 2002 with select works by some of her contemporaries including Robert Motherwell, Kenneth Noland, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Anne Truitt. Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) was born in New York. She studied art under Rufino Tamayo, Paul Feeley and Hans Hofmann. Her first critical success was with Mountains and Sea (1952), which was emblematic of her soak-stain technique in which paint was absorbed directly into the canvas. She was included in Clement Greenberg’s landmark 1964 exhibition Post-Painterly Abstraction. The term “Color Field painting” was first coined to describe her work.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Artnet
Louisa Elderton
This is still the most extensive retrospective of the artist’s work in Italy to date. With minimal wall labels, viewers are free to become immersed in the full physicality of Frankenthaler’s works and draw their own connections between the artist and her friends—a generous curatorial strategy that stresses object over interpretation, aesthetics over discourse. And it works: you can lose yourself amid the expanses of color and form.
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“Western Dream” (1957) is from Helen Frankenthaler: Painting without Rules—published to accompany the critically acclaimed retrospective on view now at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. Featuring 150 color reproductions of artworks, ephemera, portraits and documentary photographs, this sweeping overview examines Frankenthaler’s work and life in context of her artistic influences and friendships—including Robert Motherwell, Kenneth Noland, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Anne Truitt. “Friendship is pivotal to this project,” Douglas Dreishpoon writes. “It is another way to see and contextualize Frankenthaler’s own innovations. The painter chose her inner circle carefully, and those fortunate enough to be included were nurtured, feted, and sustained. As friends they visited one another’s studios, attended openings, celebrated successes, and kept up with life events. When tragedy struck, they came together to commiserate. Before fax machines, computers and email, Frankenthaler and her friends wrote to each other, sharing life’s ups and downs through chatty, at times serious, letters, postcards and notes.” These documents add depth to our understanding of Frankenthaler as an artist and a highly connected human being. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.5 x 11.5 in. / 240 pgs / 150 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $39.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $56.95 GBP £34.99 ISBN: 9791254632192 PUBLISHER: Marsilio Arte AVAILABLE: 12/24/2024 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Marsilio Arte. Edited by Douglas Dreishpoon.
A sweeping overview of poetic compositions from the beloved American postwar painter known for her groundbreaking and inventive approach to abstraction
Celebrated among the second generation of postwar American abstract painters, Helen Frankenthaler played a pivotal role in the transition from Abstract Expressionism to Color Field painting. Active for more than six decades, Frankenthaler emerged on the American art scene with a no-rules approach to painting, protean imagination and improvisational skills that reshaped the narrative not only for women artists but for the genre itself. With her innovative soak-stain technique, Frankenthaler explored a new relationship between color and form, expanding the potential of abstract painting in ways that continue to inspire artists today. Working with color, space, abstraction and poetry, Frankenthaler distinguished herself through her unique ability to combine technique, imagination, research and improvisation, expanding her practice beyond established canons in the pursuit of a new freedom in painting.
Painting without Rules is an ambitious presentation of the poetic abstractions of one of the most significant American artists of the 20th century. It examines Frankenthaler’s artistic affinities, influences and friendships by interweaving paintings created between 1953 and 2002 with select works by some of her contemporaries including Robert Motherwell, Kenneth Noland, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Anne Truitt.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) was born in New York. She studied art under Rufino Tamayo, Paul Feeley and Hans Hofmann. Her first critical success was with Mountains and Sea (1952), which was emblematic of her soak-stain technique in which paint was absorbed directly into the canvas. She was included in Clement Greenberg’s landmark 1964 exhibition Post-Painterly Abstraction. The term “Color Field painting” was first coined to describe her work.
