Gagosian New York Presents Helen Frankenthaler's 'The Moment and the Distance'

Gagosian's West 21st Street gallery in New York will host 'The Moment and the Distance', a survey of Helen Frankenthaler's work from 1960 to 1992. The exhibition runs from April 30 to July 2, 2026, featuring twenty large-scale paintings that trace her evolution from oil to acrylic, her exploration of stain techniques, and her dialogue with art history. The title derives from a 1975 essay by poet Barbara Guest, a friend of Frankenthaler, who wrote that the artist offered 'an astonishing combination of freedom and restraint, extravagance and discipline, suggestion and definition,' and that 'the moment becomes distance.' Key works include 'Provincetown I' (1961), with diluted oil paint on raw canvas; 'Mornings' (1971), featuring fluid yellow, beige, and white tones with black marker lines; 'Thanksgiving' (1972), with biomorphic forms; 'Auguste' (1977), inspired by Renoir; 'Ocean Drive West #1' (1974), referencing her Connecticut studio; 'Shippan October' (1981), evoking Long Island Sound; 'A Green Thought in a Green Shade' (1981); and 'Janus' (1990), with layered grays. Frankenthaler, a leading Abstract Expressionist, studied at Bennington College under Paul Feeley and was influenced by Clement Greenberg and Jackson Pollock. She spent summers in Cape Cod with her then-husband Robert Motherwell and later traveled in Europe, eventually buying a house in Long Island. Her practice emphasized spontaneity, ambiguity, and the interaction of space and form.