The Financial Times reviews a retrospective of Helen Frankenthaler at the Basel Kunstmuseum, describing it as a welcome exhibition that is winningly persuasive in parts but less so in others. The review highlights a marvellous moment of redemption within the show, focusing on Frankenthaler's evolution as a leading figure in American abstraction.
This review matters because it reassesses Frankenthaler's legacy as America's grande dame of abstraction, a pivotal figure in postwar American art. The Basel Kunstmuseum retrospective provides an opportunity to reconsider her contributions to color field painting and her influence on subsequent generations of artists, reinforcing her place in art history.