Fluid Expressions: The Prints of Helen Frankenthaler

March 18–September 10, 2017
Second floor

Although widely known for her iconic “soak-stain” canvases, Helen Frankenthaler was an equally inventive printmaker who took risks in a medium not frequently explored by abstract expressionists. Fluid Expressions: The Prints of Helen Frankenthaler highlights the artist’s often overlooked, yet highly original and whimsical print production.

Drawn from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, this exhibition includes more than 25 prints made from a diverse range of techniques, including lithographs, etchings, aquatints, screenprints, and woodcuts. The artist’s adaptation of her soak-stain aesthetic for the graphic medium offers a stunning look at how printmaking—notorious for being a slow, methodical process—can exude a sense of spontaneity and immediacy. From splattered pigments to translucent layers of ink, the radiant prints brought together here pulse with creative energy.

Download a 14-page booklet that accompanied the exhibition.

Installation Photos

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Fluid Expressions: The Prints of Helen Frankenthaler is drawn from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, who through a generous grant also made possible the associated publication and programming.