SHARING WITH ME

Will it ever stop ? I ask myself and the immediate reply, is « I hope not ». The name Helen Frankenthaler, an American (1928-2011) meant nothing to me but the picture I saw in one of my many art magazines told me I must go along and discover.  First Creatures - 1959 Which I did at the Gagosian gallery - empty - waiting for me. At least there was one point in my favour. There had not been a retrospective of her work in France for 50 years or more. Her career spanned six decades and in the States she is recognised as one of the great American artists of the 20th century. I thought I knew the most prominent artists belonging to the Abstract Expressionism and Colour Field painting. Apparently not despite my rushing around trying to see so many of the American artists I like so much. Pollock, De Kooning - will I go on? The list is long. Both the mentioned artists influenced her work. A technique which I knew about, soak-stain - but I did not know that Helen had developed it. Rather t