Helen Frankenthaler

"When I first met Helen [1950-51], she was a standard Cubist just out of college. Abstract Expressionism changed her direction."

"Critics have not unanimously praised Ms. Frankenthalers art. Some have seen it as thin in substance, uncontrolled in method, too sweet in color and too poetic. But it has been far more apt to garner admirers like the critic Barbara Rose, who wrote in 1972 of Ms. Frankenthalers gift for the freedom, spontaneity, openness and complexity of an image, not exclusively of the studio or the mind, but explicitly and intimately tied to nature and human emotions."

"..An artistic personality and a life personality often have no connection. In Helens case, the controlling part of her is not part of the artistic personality. Her lyricism as an artist comes from a great personal inner liberation."

"We [ Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland ] were interested in Pollock but could gain no lead from him. He was too personal. But Frankenthaler showed us a way – a way to think about and use, color."

"Greenberg didnt like Frankenthalers painting, but he did ask her out for a drink [c. 1950-51], and for the next five years, the pair underwent what she [Helen] described to me as a painting bath. They went to every exhibition in town, from Pollock to Sir Alfred Munnings, the English horse painter (and an enemy of modernism). Theyd get the catalogues to each show, and grade the paintings in them. [Helen: One check meant we liked it. Two checks was pretty good. Three was wow! And always a lot of talk, about what made one painting more successful than another. [Helen:] This seems the opposite of that lofty beautiful experience that art is supposed to be, she recalled. [Helen: Every painting is supposed to be a valid expression and interesting. But the truth is some work and some dont. That happens with all painters in every age. Greenberg had a great eye; he could tell a first-rate painting from a second-rate one, but Frankenthaler wanted to make paintings that worked, so she looked and looked, seeking to develop her own eye."

"Helen [Frankenthaler] was away for the weekend [in May 1952 or 1953], but Clem had the key to her studio and let us [[w:Kenneth Noland|[Kenneth] Noland]] and Morris Louis ] in on a Sunday morning. We saw not just Mountains and Sea but a group of pictures she had recently made. We felt exhilarated. The idea of being able to spread color out along the surface of the picture without having it create an illusion - this was very appealing to us."