Sale 2525 - Contemporary Art, November 21, 2019

On May 21, 1951, in New York, the doors opened to what would be a defining moment in American art—The Ninth Street Show. Curated by future famed gallerist Leo Castelli, contemporary artists who had been challenging the aesthetic status quo were exhibited side-by-side for the first time. Of the 72 artists chosen by a jury for the exhibition, only 11 were women. Among these were artists who would become recognized internationally for their work, including Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell and Lee Krasner. Frankenthaler (1928–2011) came from a wealthy New York family who nurtured her artistic ambitions. She became an experimental artist who garnered attention with her inventiveness and ability to explore beyond the confines of the canvas. Her “stain” paintings were created by pouring thinned paint onto an unprimed canvas spread out on the floor, creating luminous layers of color. These ethereal works differentiated her from the male-dominated Abstract Expressionist movement and played a pivotal role in the development of Color Field painting. Krasner (1908–1984), long overshadowed by her famous husband, Jackson Pollock, was an integral figure in The New York School and known for her Little Image paintings, created at the Long Island cottage she shared with Pollock. Throughout her long and prolific career, Krasner’s style and imagery evolved constantly, eventually earning her recognition independent from her husband. The bold, colorful works by the Chicago native Mitchell (1925–1992) drew upon nature and the artist’s own feelings. Mitchell combined the Impressionistic values of perception of light, harmony and color with the gestural process of the Abstract Expressionists. This awareness captured the attention of New York critics and gallerists, cementing Mitchell’s position in the burgeoning midcentury art movement. Shortly before the women of the New York School left their mark on the international art scene, there were notable American female artists known for pushing the boundaries of their media and blurring the gender distinctions of A SELECTION OF WORKS BY PIONEERING FEMALE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST ARTISTS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS LOTS 1-23