The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University will present "Pouring, Spilling, Bleeding: Helen Frankenthaler and Artists' Experiments on Paper" from Sept. 17 to Dec. 14. The exhibition explores how artists have used printmaking and works on paper as a site for experimentation, improvisation and aesthetic risk.
The exhibition focuses on the pioneering print practice of Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928 - 2011). Known for her signature "soak-stain" technique in painting, Frankenthaler brought a similar sensibility to printmaking, embracing fluidity, chance and the variable interaction of materials in her works on paper. Her lithographs, etchings and woodcuts reflect a dynamic, process-oriented approach which she has described as, "pouring, flooding, spilling, bleeding."
The presentation debuts a recent gift of 34 works from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, part of the Frankenthaler Prints Initiative. In 2023, The Block was one of 10 university art museums in the U.S. to receive a portfolio of Frankenthaler's prints and working proofs, along with funding to support interpretation and public engagement.
"This exhibition exemplifies how a university museum can serve as a catalyst for fresh approaches to scholarship, curation and teaching," said Lisa Corrin, Ellen Philips Katz Executive Director of The Block Museum. "Thanks to the transformative gift from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, we are not only opening new doors for student research and interpretation, but we are also seeing works from our own collection in a new light, revealing unexpected connections and questions that reinvigorate how we engage with art on paper."
"Pouring, Spilling, Bleeding" places this new acquisition in dialogue with more than 30 works from The Block's permanent collection, highlighting artists who have similarly challenged the boundaries of control and gesture in their artwork. Prints, drawings and watercolors by artists of Frankenthaler's close circle, including Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell and David Smith, provide a wider context for Frankenthaler's contributions to postwar abstraction and printmaking. The conversation expands beyond the historical frame of Frankenthaler's contemporaries, bringing in artists such as Lynda Benglis and Amy Sillman who have drawn inspiration from Frankenthaler's approach - as well as artists who have welcomed chance and the unexpected in their artistic practice, including John Cage, Max Gimblett and Frankenthaler's studio assistant Kikuo Saito.
Curated by Stephanie S.E. Lee, 2024 - 25 Block Museum graduate fellow in art history, and Corinne Granof, academic curator, the exhibition draws from in-depth research, including time spent in the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation archives. Their research uncovered visual and textual documentation of Frankenthaler's collaborative print process. These insights shape the exhibition's presentation of "Divertimento" (1983) which will be shown alongside a full suite of working proofs.
"As a specialist in prints and drawings, being able to study Frankenthaler's working proofs up close was transformative," Lee said. "In many ways, these working proofs show what the editioned print cannot: they are traces of decision-making, experimentation and artistic dialogue between Frankenthaler, her circle and the print workshop. That is what we wanted to bring to life in the exhibition."
The exhibition also reflects The Block's commitment to works on paper as a core strength of its collection. "Frankenthaler's prints disrupt the idea that control is essential to the printmaking process," Granof said. "This exhibition celebrates how artists represented in our collection take risks, collaborate with materials and embrace the unpredictable, on paper as much as on canvas."
Public Programs
The Block Museum will host a series of public programs exploring the legacy and ongoing relevance of Helen Frankenthaler's print practice to deepen engagement with the exhibition.
Gallery Tour with Stephanie S.E. Lee
Sept. 25, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
A kickoff exploration of the exhibition led by co-curator and graduate fellow Stephanie S.E. Lee, Belle da Costa Greene Curatorial Fellow at the Morgan Library and Museum, will feature close discussion of selected works, including "Tales of Genji IV."
Keynote Lecture with Alexander Nemerov
Oct. 17, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
A lecture by Nemerov, author "Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York" (Penguin, 2022), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A professor in the arts and humanities at Stanford University, Nemerov will reflect on the role of chance and experimentation in Frankenthaler's work.
Gallery Talk by Cora Chalaby
Oct. 22, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Chalaby, a doctoral student in art history at University College London, will share insights on the relationship between painting and printmaking in Frankenthaler's oeuvre.
Interdisciplinary Talk with Alice Boone
Oct. 30, 3 - 4 p.m.
Boone, manager of art and engineering initiatives at the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern, will connect feminist perspectives on technology in a discussion of Frankenthaler's collaborative printmaking process.
Block Student Art Talks
Nov. 1 and Dec. 6, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Student-led talks will offer reflections and new interpretations of the exhibition.
Contemporary Artists in Conversation
Nov. 12, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Lane Relyea, associate professor of art theory and practice at Northwestern and artists Soo Shin and Anna Kunz will discuss the resonance of Frankenthaler's work today in a dialogue moderated by Stephanie S.E. Lee.
About the Frankenthaler Prints Initiative
Launched in 2018, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation's Frankenthaler Prints Initiative supports university museums with gifts of prints and working proofs by Frankenthaler, as well as funding for research, teaching, and interpretation. The program reflects the Foundation's dual mission: to steward Frankenthaler's legacy and to support the next generation of artists and scholars.
At The Block, this gift has catalyzed new research and learning opportunities. By placing Frankenthaler's prints in conversation with works from the museum's holdings, the exhibition underscores The Block's role as a site for interdisciplinary learning and object-based research.
Exhibition Support
"Pouring, Spilling, Bleeding" is generously supported by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. Additional support provided by The Alumnae of Northwestern University.
The Block Museum of Art
