Celebrating Female Abstract Expressionists

In recent years, art historians and Institutions alike have been reexamining the history of Abstract Expressionism through a specifically feminist lens. With the evolution of the feminist movement, the Art World at large has had to reckon with the documentation of Abstract Expressionism as a male-dominated period in Post-War Art History. Today, including and recognizing historically marginalized artists like women is of paramount importance. As a result, we have seen a sharp increase in the market value of female Abstract Expressionist paintings.

The concerted effort to recontextualize women's role in art history has resulted in an influx of major exhibitions celebrating the contributions of female Abstract Expressionists. 

From May 2019 to January 2021, the first major European retrospective of Lee Krasner’s work in over 50 years traveled internationally between significant institutions, including the Barbican Centre in London, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt in Germany, Zentrum Paul Klee Bern in Switzerland, and the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain.

Lee Krasner, The Seasons 1957, Oil and house paint on canvas, 92 ¾ x 203 7/8 inches

Also in 2019, Sparkling Amazons: Abstract Expressionist Women of the 9th St. Show debuted at the Katonah Museum in Bedford, New York. The exhibition reunited an incredible roster of female Abstract Expressionist painters for the first time since they exhibited together in the iconic  9th Street Show 68 years ago. Curators sourced from numerous private collections to gain access to masterpieces by Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan, and Elaine de Kooning.  The result was one of the most comprehensive retrospectives yet, devoted to analyzing the profoundly overlooked contribution of these women artists. 

Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea 1952, Oil and charcoal on canvas, 87 x 117.2 inches

Last year, Gagosian, one of the most prominent art galleries at the center of the global blue-chip art market, featured a solo exhibition of works by Pat Steir, formalizing her induction into the financial asset class market. While Pat Steir was not part of the Abstract Expressionist New York School, she is an AbEx master who continues to push the bounds of abstraction just as her predecessors.

Pat Steir, Roman Rainbow 2021-22, Oil on canvas, 108 x 108 inches

Even more recently, London’s Whitechapel Gallery debuted Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970 in February 2023. The exhibition expands discourse on the contributions of women in Abstract Expressionism to include an even more diverse and global scope, featuring Helen Frankenthaler and Lee Krasner alongside Alma Thomas, Bertina Lopes, and Wook-Kyung Choi. Over half of the works have never been on public display in the UK – an astonishing statistic given the artists' level of establishment amongst art world specialists.

Left: Alma Thomas, Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze 1973, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 50”

Right: Wook-Kyung Choi, Shang 1966, Acrylic and paper mounted on canvas 16 ¾ x 22 ½”

A watershed retrospective of Joan Mitchell’s work opened at the San Francisco Museum of Art in September of 2021, traveled to the Baltimore Museum of Art in March of 2022, and concluded at Fondation Lois Vuitton in Paris in February of 2023. Additionally, a museum-tier show of Mitchell’s work exhibited at David Zwirner Gallery in Fall 2022, concurrent with the Mitchell retrospective.

With every facet of the art world looking to redefine the heavy hitters of Abstract Expressionism, Alanna Miller is looking to a new generation of emerging Abstract Expressionists building on this rich and important art history. Currently, on view at Alanna Miller, Magenta Disco is a solo exhibition of work by artist Hattie Smith Lindsley, whose work follows in the tremendous legacy of female abstract artists.

Joan Mitchell, Ici 1992, Oil on canvas, 102 3/8 x 157 1/2 inches 

In reference to Joan Mitchell, Smith Lindsley’s compositions draw inspiration from both landscape and gesture. Her electric color palette and confident mark-making allude to space and horizon, re-imagining the American West in raw canvas and swirling trails of oil pastel.

Hattie Smith Lindsley, Mesa Disco 2023, Oil on canvas 48 x 40 inches

Similarly, Smith Lindsley looks to Helen Frankenthaler throughout her process, as she often begins a composition by diluting oil paint with turpentine and laying down large washes of color. This technique was legitimized in the mid-20th century by Frankenthaler, whose 1952 masterpiece Mountains and Sea effectively redefined the genre. 

Hattie Smith Lindsley, Flyswatter 2023, Oil on canvas, 48 x 40 inches

Paying homage to masters in the art world like Mitchell and Frankenthaler is a point of strength in Smith Lindsley’s approach. The foundation of her practice comes from deep knowledge and respect for those women who fearlessly pushed the boundaries of the canvas. Referencing her predecessors’ stylistic breakthroughs in combination with her fearless approach and confident mark-making, Smith Lindsley’s work achieves new heights in the canon of Abstract Expressionism as it is currently being re-examined through the Feminist lens.

Hattie Smith Lindsley, Magenta Garden Disco 2023, Oil on canvas, 48 x 44 inches

Magenta Disco by Hattie Lindsley is on view in the gallery through April 27. Gallery hours are 10:30 am-6:30 pm Wednesday - Saturday, and by appointment Monday- Tuesday.

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