Helen Frankenthaler died on December 27, 2011. A spokesperson said her passing came "after a lengthy illness," so it likely wasn't peaceful, or tranquil, or any of those words of good intent we use in place of "quick." Considering how Miss Frankenthaler moved so composedly throughout the rest of her life, her death was the last of a list of contradictions.
You see, when you come to "know" an artist -- not only as an artist but as a human being with a life story -- sometimes things turn up that ... well, they don't exactly dovetail with one's idea of who this artist is or was. Take Helen Frankenthaler. Over the past few days, much has been made of her "acceptance" by the naughty boys club known as the Abstract Expressionists. To me, "acceptance" was a no-brainer. Yes, of course, she was a gifted painter, but more than that she was (1) beautiful, (2) independently wealthy, (3) her boyfriend was an art critic with the power to make or break careers and, most importantly, (4) with the confidence that comes from a privileged background, she probably assumed she would be accepted. Nothing succeeds in gaining approval like not trying to curry it.
And then there is Feminism, another contradiction. On the surface Helen Frankenthaler, female artistic pioneer, and Feminism were a match made in heaven. Oh, and Feminism was hot to claim her as its own. But Miss Frankenthaler spurned the pairing; she wanted nothing to do with the Women's movement, to the point that she didn't even wish to discuss women artists. She certainly didn't want that title for herself, and here I cannot blame her. (Trust me on this, no woman artist wants to be known as a "woman artist," as if we are some separate, sub- or marginalized species of artist.) And she was raised in a different era that predated Feminism. On the other hand, what harm would it have done to acknowledge that All Things Woman discussions were leading to renewed interest in women's work, i.e., career boosts?
It is also incredible that Helen Frankenthaler made her breakthrough fresh out of college at age 23. Twenty. Three! Who does that?! She invented the stain painting technique, created Mountains and Sea, and became part of the art-historic canon. No struggling for decades, no working in obscurity, no endless rounds with her portfolio, just BAM! right out of the chute. She never seemed bowled over by it, either.
There were other aspects of her life that seem to fly in the face of being an artist: the "comfortable" standard of living, the fact that she didn't have to sell, the way she only deviated from stain painting over the next 50 years for bouts of printmaking, her staunch conservatism, and even her quasi-snobbish approach during her time on the NEA advisory council. This is the danger of "knowing" the human behind the art: you will learn things with which you disagree. We can't help it. We're human, after all.
I've assembled some quotes by Miss Frankenthaler, thinking that you will read and relate to them in your unique way. And in the end, it doesn't matter what you or I think about her as a person, does it? She invented a new way to make art, and created landscapes remarkable for their ability to engage. For those two things alone, we are in Helen Frankenthaler's debt.
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