Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) pioneered a ‘soak-stain’ technique that formed the basis of what became known as ‘Colour Field’ painting. Merging tradition with a new style of abstract painting, her work proved both instrumental and disruptive to the movement. Frankenthaler broke ground by removing her canvas from the easel and placing it on the floor, which, in her words, was an act of ‘dishonouring everything that painting had been about, assuming that you knew everything it was about’.
