This is your last chance to visit Italy’s most comprehensive retrospective dedicated to Helen Frankenthaler, one of the most revolutionary artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition, staged in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi, offers an in-depth exploration of her work, placing her works in dialogue with those of contemporaries like Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Morris Louis, David Smith, Anthony Caro, and Anne Truitt. It’s a stunning show which remains on view until 26th January 2025. A remarkable selection of works in conversation with Frankenthaler.

Through a collection of large-scale canvases, works on paper, and sculptures, the exhibition traces the artist’s exceptional originality. Featured pieces include loans from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and prestigious institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Organized by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in collaboration with the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and curated by Douglas Dreishpoon, Director of the Helen Frankenthaler Catalogue Raisonné, the exhibition unfolds chronologically, spanning the 1950s to the early 2000s. It highlights Frankenthaler’s groundbreaking innovations alongside works by her contemporaries, revealing the dynamic connections and shared influences that shaped twentieth-century art. Her unique blend of control and improvisation charted new directions in painting, introducing a new approach that continues to inspire emerging artists today.

Helen Frankenthaler: Painting Without Rules culminates with the words of the artist herself in a room where visitors can engage with interviews on videos and archival material of Frankenthaler in her studio.

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Images: Photo Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio. Courtesy Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence.