With the support of the A&A department, I traveled to London in April to visit an exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery related to my independent work. Entitled Action, Gesture, Paint, the exhibition included the work of more than 50 abstract artists working in the 20th century—all women and from all around the world.

My independent work is focused on Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011), and the exhibition provided a rare opportunity to see her work contextualized with the work of so many of her female peers. Gathering such a diverse and international cast of artists as this exhibition did is an impressive and rare undertaking, so I was eager to see the show before the works returned to their home collections and institutions around the world. 

Gathering such a diverse and international cast of artists as this exhibition did is an impressive and rare undertaking, so I was eager to see the show before the works returned to their home collections and institutions around the world. 

As a result of my visit, I was able to develop a better appreciation for Frankenthaler’s signature soak-stain technique, seeing it juxtaposed with other works of collage and heavy gesture. Gender as the curatorial angle of the exhibition was also of interest to me as I think through Frankenthaler’s role in a midcentury New York art world known for its machismo culture. For my Junior Paper, I considered the implications of Morris Louis’ claim that Frankenthaler was “a bridge between [Jackson] Pollock and what was possible,” critiquing the metaphor for the way it allows Frankenthaler to be marginalized and unappreciated as an innovative artist in her own right.

While in London, I also managed to visit a handful of galleries and stop by the Tate Modern where I saw, among other things, Jackson Pollock’s Number 14 (1951), a painting of the sort Louis had in mind when he described Frankenthaler as “a bridge.”

I concluded my Junior Paper by attending to the indexical, idiosyncratic marks in her paintings, an approach I attribute to my visit to the exhibition where long-looking at and careful scrutinizing of her paintings keyed me into this special feature, particularly as compared to some of her peers.

I appreciate the department’s support of my independent research; I found the trip to be pivotal for the direction of my project, and I look forward to building on this work next year for my Senior Thesis.

I found the trip to be pivotal for the direction of my project, and I look forward to building on this work next year for my Senior Thesis.