Helen Frankenthaler

This ground-breaking and extraordinary examination of the work of Abstract Expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler overturns assumptions about the artist, whose work has been burdened by its label as the bridge between Pollock and what was possible. Trained as a painter, Alison Rowley brings a keen eye to Frankenthalers paintings, returning to the fore the artists debt not only to Jackson Pollock but also to Cezanne, and speculating for the first time as to her artistic responses to wider political events, in particular the Rosenberg trial. Making a fascinating case, too, for the connections between the breakthrough work Mountains and Sea and Lily Briscoes painting in Virginia Woolfs novel To the Lighthouse, this beautifully written book provides crucial insights into Frankenthalers practice. With her bold and radical painting now appearing in major international exhibitions, this paperback re-issue of Rowleys original 2007 study comes at a significant moment of reappraisal, and confirms Frankenthalers status as one of the most important artists of her generation.