Helen Frankenthaler: Move and Make

Helen Frankenthaler’s (1928–2011) radical approach to paint and material makes images pulsate with color. During the postwar period in the United States, she was a leading figure in abstract art. This volume brings together nearly fifty of her works on display at the recently opened Museum Reinhard Ernst in Wiesbaden.

In Frankenthaler’s works, paint and canvas become one. The soak-stain technique she developed allows the paint to seep directly into unprimed fabric. The result is a pictorial effect like no other: color spaces open up, flowing into one another, sometimes saturated, sometimes transparent. Above all, the pictures show an artist willing to take risks. By setting no limits to her artistic work, Frankenthaler was able to create liberated, large-scale paintings full of radiance. Her groundbreaking body of work remains highly relevant today.