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National Museum of Women in the Arts

Helen Frankenthaler

View of the museum from outside showing the Neoclassical building from one corner. The building is a tan-colored stone with an arched doorway, long vertical windows, and detailed molding around the roof.
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Wilhelmina Cole Holladay’s #5WomenArtists
Posted: March 24, 2021
Category: Helen Frankenthaler
NMWA founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay (1922–2021) was a visionary collector of great art by women. Get to know five of her favorite modern and contemporary artists from the museum’s collection.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay leans against a railing with a slight smile. She is a light-skinned, older woman with short, gray hair, and she wears a collared white shirt and black cardigan. Ornate chandeliers can be seen behind her.

NMWA @ Home: Creative Coping with Lynora Williams and Adrienne Poon
Posted: April 2, 2020
Category: Helen Frankenthaler
As NMWA remains temporarily closed due to COVID-19, we check in with staff for a personal look at the creative ways they’re staying connected, inspired, and grounded.
Large vertical painting in minimalist style features thinned pigments poured in translucent layers onto the unsized canvas. The abstract composition is dominated by a central ambiguous form in vibrant yellow-orange and peach, flanked by amorphous swaths of pale pink and a dark gray.

Gallery Reboot: Collection Galleries Closed December 17–28
Posted: December 16, 2018
Category: Helen Frankenthaler
From Monday, December 17, through Friday, December 28, NMWA’s third-floor galleries will be closed to the public for a major reinstallation of art from the collection.
Large vertical painting in minimalist style features thinned pigments poured in translucent layers onto the unsized canvas. The abstract composition is dominated by a central ambiguous form in vibrant yellow-orange and peach, flanked by amorphous swaths of pale pink and a dark gray.

Artist Spotlight: Chakaia Booker
Posted: December 31, 2017
Category: Helen Frankenthaler
Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today places abstract works by multiple generations of black women artists in context with one another—and within the larger history of abstract art—for...
An installation shot of a gallery shows several art pieces in the room. On the left, there is a sculpture made from black rubber tires sits on a. The black rubber tires are shaped and distorted in way that they create an organic form, resembling an insect or an alien-like figure.

Artist Spotlight: Mildred Thompson
Posted: December 5, 2017
Category: Helen Frankenthaler
Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today places abstract works by multiple generations of black women artists in context with one another—and within the larger history of abstract art—for...
An installation shot of a gallery with a large painting hanging on the wall. Abstract painting features a vivid yellow background covered by circles, daubs, and straight and wavy lines in red, orange, cobalt, sky blue, and violet. Arcing red strokes evoke concentric circles. Straight lines in other hues radiate out from the center circle like a starburst.

Self-Portraits in NMWA’s Collection
Posted: November 1, 2017
Category: Helen Frankenthaler
Modern and contemporary women artists with works on view at NMWA employ self-portraiture to address personal, social, and political issues.
A photograph shows the nude artist sitting in a metal grocery cart. It is located on a paved road in a flat, empty landscape under a gray, misty sky. Her back to the viewer, the light-skinned, brunette woman holds her raised arms in a wide V-shape, suggesting joy or abandon.