Helen FrankenthalerAmerican, 1928–2011A Little Zen
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “A Little Zen” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1976.56.37
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — © the artist or rights holder
In the life of Helen Frankenthaler
The whole life1968
The Temple Gold Medal
She receives the Temple Gold Medal of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
1969
Solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art holds a solo exhibition of Frankenthaler’s work; it then travels to the Whitechapel Gallery in London, the Orangerie Herrenhausen in Hanover and the Kongresshalle in Berlin.
1971
Divorce from Robert Motherwell
Her marriage to Robert Motherwell, which began in 1958, ends in divorce; both born of wealthy parents, they were known as “the golden couple” for their lavish entertaining, and from the marriage Frankenthaler gained two stepdaughters, Jeannie and Lise.
1972
Mary Beth Edelson’s collage “Last Supper”
In Mary Beth Edelson’s collage “Some Living American Women Artists / Last Supper”, the heads of notable women artists, Frankenthaler among them, are placed over the heads of Christ and the apostles in Leonardo’s “Last Supper”; she herself does not consider herself a feminist and says that being a woman painter was never an issue for her.
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
