About the Artist

Over a career that spans six decades, Frankenthaler's art has received great critical acclaim and has been noted for its painterly virtuosity and celebration of experimentation. As the artist herself described: "I am an artist of paint, making discoveries." (1) Perhaps even more important than the artist's technical innovations is her unique sense of "place." She invites the viewer into pictures that are themselves environments—places where she has been, places she has dreamed of, and abstract places of personal and artistic interests. Writing in response to a 1975 exhibition of the artist's work at André Emmerich Gallery, the art critic Hilton Kramer praised her ability to conjure novel viewing experiences: "The paintings of Helen Frankenthaler occupy a distinctive place in the recent history of American abstract painting….We feel ourselves in the presence of imaginary landscapes—landscapes distilled into chromatic essence." (2) "Lunar Edge," in its radiance and rich color that glows from within, approximates the surreal feeling of being perched on the edge of the moon alongside an infinite expanse of space.


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