I recently had the pleasure of visiting the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA), located just 12 miles from Hartford, Connecticut. The “Modern Women: Visionary Artists” exhibit is a nod to and celebration of the female side of the abstract expressionist movement.
This exhibit features a group of female artists who were based in New York City in the late 1940s. Their visions were largely influenced by the angst and discomposure following World War II. Joan Brown, Jenny Holzer, Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Louise Nevelson and Lee Krasner invite the audience to consider their way of seeing.
Typically, when we think of abstract expressionism, we think of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning or the New York School. For decades, most of the attention has been paid to these leading male artists. More recently, the focus has shifted to the female artists of this period. Some of the wives of these painters are now being recognized for their influence, such as Frankenthaler, wife of Robert Motherwell, and Krasner, wife of Pollock.
These female artists did not conform to the technical normalities of their peers or predecessors. This realm of artistic expression is intended to be emotionally evocative for the viewer and to challenge their interpretation of the piece. These paintings are large in scale, textural and reflect little concern for technique or realism.