First Stone

1959

First Prize at the Paris Biennial

She receives First Prize for Painting at the first Paris Biennial.

11 de julio de 1959 – 11 de octubre de 1959

Exhibition: Documenta II

1960

First museum retrospective at the Jewish Museum

A retrospective of her work of the 1950s at the Jewish Museum is her first major museum show; the catalogue is written by the critic and poet Frank O’Hara, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art.

1960

Her work is described as “colour field painting”

In 1960 the term “colour field painting” is used to describe Frankenthaler’s work: large areas of colour on the canvas, hues similar in tone or intensity, large formats and simplified compositions.

1963

A switch to acrylic paints

From 1963 she uses acrylic paints rather than oils, because they allow for both opacity and sharpness on the canvas.