10 Contemporary Women Artists Channeling Helen Frankenthaler’s Abstract Expressionism

Widely celebrated as one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century, Helen Frankenthaler left an indelible mark on the world of Abstract Expressionism through her innovative spirit and penchant for risk-taking. “There are no rules...that is how art is born, that is how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about,” the artist once said.

At just 23 years old, Frankenthaler captured the art world’s attention with her groundbreaking soak-stain technique. This method, which built on Jackson Pollock’s drip painting approach, involved thinning oil or acrylic paint to a watercolor-like consistency and pouring it directly onto the canvas. In these works, Frankenthaler pushed the limits of Color Field painting, creating rich compositions that, even after her decades-long career and death in 2011, continue to resonate within the contemporary art world.

This fall, two major European exhibitions will spotlight the artist’s legacy. “Helen Frankenthaler: Painting Without Rules” will open at the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence on September 27th and run through January 26, 2025. “Helen Frankenthaler: Painting on Paper, 1990–2002” will be on show at Gagosian in Rome from September 20th through November 23rd. Another show of the artist’s print works, “Helen Frankenthaler: Prints 1977–2004” was on view at STPI this summer.

Frankenthaler’s impact extended beyond artistic innovation. She also forged a path for female artists in an industry continuously struggling with gender inequality. “Helen Frankenthaler was one of only a handful of female artists of her generation who achieved and then sustained, over the course of a whole career, a significant national and international reputation,” said Elizabeth Smith, executive director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.

Below, Artsy highlights ten contemporary women artists who have drawn inspiration from Frankenthaler’s trailblazing oeuvre.

Heather Day
B. 1989, Honolulu. Lives and works in California.

Past and present become one in Heather Day’s composite canvases, usually created by stitching paintings she’s completed in previous years with more recent works. Showing the clear influence of Color Field painting, Day’s abstract compositions feature saturated hues achieved by pouring paint onto the canvas. The artist allows colors to clash and mix in unexpected ways as she moves the canvas and occasionally intervenes in the pools of pigment with a brush.

Day, who received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2012, has cited Frankenthaler as a source of inspiration for her work. Just like Frankenthaler, she approaches her artistic practice as a continuous opportunity for innovation. “For me, a huge part of artmaking is constantly figuring out how to keep experimenting in the studio and create chaos…it’s constantly creating rules and breaking them over and over again,” she said in an interview with W magazine.

Day is currently showing her first solo exhibition with Berggruen Gallery, Cut, Split, Horizon.