Bennington College’s Usdan Gallery hosts "Frankenthaler: Sculpture"

The rarely seen sculpture of American iconic artist Helen Frankenthaler ’49 will be on display at Bennington College’s Usdan Gallery from September 12, 2007 through October 19, 2007. This exhibition, which has been exclusively exhibited at Knoedler & Company in New York City and at Bennington College, is a major highlight of Bennington College’s 75th anniversary celebration.

Known primarily as an abstract painter, Frankenthaler made these sculptures in 1972 at the studio of another internationally acclaimed artist and former Bennington College faculty member, Sir Anthony Caro.

“Like my painting, I guess all of the sculptures look ‘different,’ but they all possess the same genes,” explains renowned abstract expressionist and Bennington College alumna, Helen Frankenthaler ‘49. “In a way, they are my pictures in the round.”

Crafted with pieces of scrap metal and steel, New York Times art critic Martha Schwenddener describes the Frankenthaler’s sculptures as “…muscular slabs and rounds of steel welded into off-kilter abstract compositions…” and worthy of “high praise.”

Anthony Caro writes about his studio experience with Frakenthaler. “Helen worked when she felt ready; she stopped when she was tired…She did not agonize and had complete confidence in her ‘take.’ As a result her work has a breathtaking freshness.”

After graduating from Bennington College, Helen Frankenthaler entered the New York art scene and quickly became a leading figure in the new American abstract expressionist painting movement. A pioneer of staining unprimed canvas with thinned oil paint to create bold fields of color, Ms. Frankenthaler was awarded a 2001 National Medal of Arts for her lifetime achievement. In 2005, she received the Philadelphia Academy Medal of Honor and was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame; all are among countless honors Ms. Frankenthaler has received throughout her 55-year career. Over the years, she has had several one-woman exhibitions, including retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, with her work included in virtually every major art museum collection in the nation.

Frankenthaler: Sculpture, first organized by Knoedler & Company, is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00–5:00pm at Bennington College’s Usdan Gallery.