News / Helen Frankenthaler / Events

Friday, September 22, 2023, 5:30pm
New Museum, New York

Join the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation during Climate Week NYC for a panel discussion featuring recent Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI) grantees. Through a moderated conversation with museum and university leaders, Expanding Climate Action in the Visual Arts explores current models for energy efficiency and clean energy in the arts—and concludes with a series of action items and next steps that arts organizations can consider taking. The event includes brief presentations by several recent FCI grant recipients, plus invited leaders from the cultural field who are shaping climate change action in the visual arts. The event will also be livestreamed.

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Sunday, May 21, 2023, 5pm EDT

Elizabeth Smith, executive director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, will give a talk as part of the Art of Relationships, a series of Zoom lectures organized in conjunction with the exhibition Creative Exchanges: Artists in Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner’s Address Books, on view at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, New York, through July 30, 2023. Smith will consider some of Frankenthaler’s earliest works and will reflect on what made Frankenthaler’s painting, in Morris Louis’s later words, a “bridge between Pollock and what was possible” for other artists in the 1950s.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2022, 5–7pm
Gagosian Shop, New York

Douglas Dreishpoon will sign copies of the book Helen Frankenthaler: Late Works, 1988–2009 at the Gagosian Shop, New York, to celebrate its recent publication. The first title to explore the late period of Frankenthaler’s art and life, the book features a new essay by Dreishpoon, director of the Helen Frankenthaler catalogue raisonné project and chief curator emeritus at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, New York. It accompanies the first major exhibition of Frankenthaler’s late work, curated by Dreishpoon for the New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, in 2021, and on view at the Baker Museum, Naples, Florida, through November 2022. Published by Radius Books in conjunction with the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, the volume will be available for purchase at the event.

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Launching November 16, 2021, 10am est

Limited-edition bone china plates produced by Prospect and featuring artwork by more than forty artists—including Virgil Abloh, Urs Fischer, Helen Frankenthaler, Alex Israel, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Ed Ruscha, Sarah Sze, Tom Wesselmann, Jonas Wood, and Christopher Wool—will be sold through Artware Editions to raise funds for the Coalition’s lifesaving programs. The funds raised by the sale of the plates will provide food, crisis services, housing, and other critical aid to thousands of people experiencing homelessness and instability. The purchase of one plate can feed one hundred homeless and hungry New Yorkers.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021, 1pm edt (6pm bst)

Join Gagosian for an online conversation between broadcaster and art historian Katy Hessel; Matthew Holman, associate lecturer in English at University College London; and Eleanor Nairne, curator at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, about the exhibition Imagining Landscapes: Paintings by Helen Frankenthaler, 1952–1976, on view at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London, through September 18. The trio will discuss Frankenthaler’s early training, the development of her signature soak-stain technique and subsequent shifts in style, and her connections to the London art world. To join, register at eventbrite.com.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021, 4pm EDT

On the occasion of Helen Frankenthaler: Late Works, 1990–2003 at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, exhibition curator Douglas Dreishpoon, director of the Helen Frankenthaler catalogue raisonné, will discuss the works on view. Frankenthaler’s invention of the soak-stain technique expanded abstract painting’s possibilities while referencing figuration and landscape in unique ways. During the 1990s, as her practice continued to evolve through the use of diverse media and processes, she naturally transitioned from tackling canvases on the floor to using larger sheets of paper laid out on the floor or on tabletops for easier accessibility. To join the online event, register at uncg.zoom.us.

Thursday, March 25, 2021, 6pm EDT

Join Politics and Prose Bookstore for a conversation between art historian Alexander Nemerov and Lise Motherwell, a licensed psychologist, stepdaughter of Helen Frankenthaler, and the vice president of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation board. The pair will discuss Nemerov’s new book, Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York, which illuminates the rich intellectual and creative life of postwar New York City, where Frankenthaler’s singular career was launched and which fueled its flourishing. To join the online event, register at www.eventbrite.com.

Thursday, March 18, 2021, 7–8pm EDT

Art historian Alexander Nemerov will share stories from his new book, Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York, illuminating the rich intellectual and creative life of the postwar New York City that launched Helen Frankenthaler’s singular career and fueled its flourishing. From Frankenthaler’s privileged Upper East Side upbringing to her life-altering first encounter with the work of Jackson Pollock to her efforts to chart her own course in a male-dominated art world, Nemerov explores how Frankenthaler came of age as an artist. Celebrating the art itself, he brings fresh insights into the luminous, color-stained, commanding works that made Frankenthaler a pioneer of twentieth-century painting. To join the online event, purchase tickets at www.92y.org.

Tuesday, October 6, 2020, 7–8pm edt

Join Elizabeth Smith, executive director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and Natalie Dupêcher, assistant curator of modern art at the Menil Collection, for a conversation about Helen Frankenthaler’s pivotal role in postwar American art. The pair will consider how the artist pioneered a highly original form of abstraction by looking at a selection of her works, including the monumental painting Hybrid Vigor (1973), which is currently on view at the Menil Collection. To watch the live conversation, visit the Menil’s YouTube channel.

Helen Frankenthaler: Composing with Color: Paintings 1962–1963 is available for online reading from June 20 through July 19 as part of the From the Library series. This catalogue records a 2014 exhibition of eleven paintings made in a brief but critical period in Frankenthaler’s career when she “composed with color” rather than with line, producing for the first time the freer compositions that would come to exemplify her long and prolific career. An essay by Elizabeth A. T. Smith provides an in-depth examination of Frankenthaler’s development during this period, including her transition from oil to acrylic paint, and places these works within the context of American art in the early 1960s.

Thursday, March 5, 2020, 6:30pm
Gagosian, Britannia Street, London

Join Gagosian for a tour of the group exhibition American Pastoral. The show juxtaposes modern and contemporary works with historical American landscapes ranging from Albert Bierstadt’s depiction of the sublime in Sunset over the River (1877) to Edward Hopper’s tranquil seaside scene, Gloucester Harbor (1926). Gagosian’s Alice Godwin will focus on a select grouping of exhibited works that seek to challenge the idealized vision of the American Dream that has long been a rich topic of inquiry for artists in the United States. To attend the free event, RSVP to londontours@gagosian.com. Space is limited.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 5:30pm
Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
www.arthurrossgallery.org

Writer and art historian Avis Berman will give a talk on Helen Frankenthaler in conjunction with the exhibition Frankenthaler on Paper at the Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Berman will discuss Frankenthaler’s prints and paintings with commentary from the artist herself, as well as her contemporaries, through the use of archival recordings. The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, January 16, 2020, 5–7:30pm
Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
www.arthurrossgallery.org

Curator and author Ruth E. Fine will be giving a lecture on the occasion of the opening of Frankenthaler on Paper at the Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Fine will discuss Helen Frankenthaler’s print practice. During the 1960s and ’70s, several groundbreaking print workshops were established, reflecting a renewed interest on the part of artists and collectors in contemporary printmaking. Inspired by the process, Frankenthaler experimented endlessly, working with master printers across the country and abroad for more than three decades. The event is free and open to the public.

Monday, November 25, 2019, 6:30–8pm
Tate Modern, London
www.tate.org.uk

On the occasion of Helen Frankenthaler, a yearlong display of the artist’s work at Tate Modern, London, Clifford Ross, chairman of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and art historian Briony Fer will discuss Frankenthaler’s life, work, and legacy. The talk will be chaired by Mark Godfrey, senior curator of international art at Tate Modern. The event has reached capacity.

September 19–20, 2019
Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey
artmuseum.princeton.edu

A series of conversations among artists and art historians on the impact of mid-twentieth-century abstraction will take place in conjunction with Helen Frankenthaler Prints: Seven Types of Ambiguity, currently on view at the Princeton University Art Museum. The talks will begin at 5:30pm on Thursday, September 19, and continue at 9am on Friday, September 20. The events are free and open to the public.

Friday, August 23, 2019, 6–8pm
Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York
parrishart.org

Art historian Alexander Nemerov, who is currently working on a new book about Helen Frankenthaler, will speak with Clifford Ross, chairman of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. The pair will discuss Nemerov’s forthcoming publication as well as the exhibition currently on view at the Parrish Art Museum, Abstract Climates: Helen Frankenthaler in Provincetown. To attend the event, purchase tickets at parrishart.org.

Saturday, June 29, 2019, 5pm
Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey
artmuseum.princeton.edu

On the occasion of the opening of the exhibition Helen Frankenthaler Prints: Seven Types of Ambiguity at the Princeton University Art Museum, Carol Armstrong, professor of the history of art at Yale University, will explore Helen Frankenthaler’s accomplishments in prints with a lecture titled “Painting Printing Frankenthaler: The Process of Abstraction.” A reception in the museum will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 6pm
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome
lagallerianazionale.com

On the occasion of Helen Frankenthaler’s first exhibition of paintings in Rome, and first exhibition in Venice since 1966, when she, along with Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jules Olitski, represented the United States in the 33rd Venice Biennale, curator John Elderfield and artist Clifford Ross will discuss her work and legacy. The talk will be moderated by art historian and curator Flavia Frigeri. The event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019, 6pm
Gagosian, Rome

Gagosian senior curator John Elderfield and director Jason Ysenburg will lead a tour of the exhibition Helen Frankenthaler: Sea Change: A Decade of Paintings, 1974–1983 at Gagosian, Rome. Elderfield and Ysenburg will explore the important period in Helen Frankenthaler’s work that began in the summer of 1974, which was sparked by the changing appearance of the wide vistas and moving tides of the Long Island Sound. The show coincides with an exhibition of her work at the Museo di Palazzo Grimani in Venice on the occasion of the 58th Venice Biennale. To attend the free event, RSVP to rometours@gagosian.com. Space is limited.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018, 5–6pm
Gagosian Shop, New York
gagosianshop.com

Mary Gabriel will sign copies of her new book, Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement that Changed Modern Art, published by Little, Brown and Company in 2018. The book tells the story of five women artists who transformed the New York art world in the middle of the twentieth century. To attend the free event, RSVP to ninthstreetwomen@gagosian.com.

Wednesday, October 3, 2018, 6:30pm
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
www.whitney.org

Mary Gabriel will speak about her new book, Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement that Changed Modern Art, published by Little, Brown and Company in 2018, with art critic and biographer Deborah Solomon. The book tells the story of five women artists who transformed the New York art world in the middle of the twentieth century. The discussion will be followed by a book signing and reception. To attend the event, purchase tickets at www.whitney.org.

Friday, April 20, 2018, 3–4pm
Art Institute of Chicago
www.artic.edu

Douglas Dreishpoon, director of the Helen Frankenthaler catalogue raisonné, will discuss Helen Frankenthaler’s printmaking processes with Ruth Fine, former curator of modern prints and drawings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and Mark Pascale, Janet and Craig Duchossois curator of prints and drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago. The event is free with museum admission. RSVP at www.artic.edu.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017, 7pm
The Cultural Services of the
French Embassy, New York
www.frenchculture.org

Douglas Dreishpoon, John Elderfield, Joachim Pissarro, and Pat Steir will discuss the work of Helen Frankenthaler in relation to French art and culture.

Friday, October 6, 2017, 5:30pm
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie,
New York
www.vassar.edu

Douglas Dreishpoon will give a lecture on the occasion of the exhibition Fluid Expressions: The Prints of Helen Frankenthaler opening at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center on October 6. Dreishpoon is director of the catalogue raisonné project at the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in New York City and chief curator emeritus at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. A reception in the Art Center follows the lecture.