Abstract Expressionists

Abstract Expressionists: The Women unites nearly 40 paintings by more than 30 artists between 1936 and 1977, including Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Howardena Pindell, Alma Thomas, and many others. The development of radical and monumental Abstract Expressionist paintings has historically been associated with male creativity.

When Abstract Expressionism entered the art world, it was a shockingly radical approach to painting that upended traditional techniques. Once it was eventually regarded as a "triumph" of American painting, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning were often credited as some of the great abstract expressionists. The women artists of the movement, however, have been overwhelmingly underappreciated and marginalized in their contributions.

The exhibition challenges the gendered misconceptions of the movement and focuses on the women artists who reshaped Abstract Expressionism through innovation and risk-taking, offering a more expansive and inclusive account of the movement’s history.

The Abstract Expressionism movement was at its peak between 1940 and 1980, the same timeframe in which Helen Clay Frick was building The Frick Art Museum and assembling her collection of early Italian Renaissance devotional paintings and eighteenth-century European art. This once revolutionary art movement is put into conversation with the Frick’s fine art collection, offering broader context for both.

Abstract Expressionists: The Women is curated by Dr. Ellen G. Landau. This exhibition is organized by the American Federation of Arts from the Christian Levett Collection and FAMM (Female Artists of the Mougins Museum), France. It is generously supported by Berry Campbell Gallery, Betsy Shack Barbanell, Monique Schoen Warshaw, Christian Levett, and Clare McKeon and the Clare McKeon Charitable Trust. Additional support has been provided by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Every Page Foundation.