Helen Frankenthaler was an American painter, best known for her contributions to abstract art and her role in the development of Color Field Painting. Her works are characterized by their innovation, bold use of color, and unique technique, which had a profound influence on modern art. Frankenthaler studied at the Dalton School under painter Rufino Tamayo and later at Bennington College. She was greatly influenced by the works of Jackson Pollock and his drip technique. However, she developed her own method known as the soak-stain technique, which involved pouring highly diluted oil paint onto unprimed canvas. This technique allowed the paint to seep into the canvas, creating a subtle, transparent staining effect without the use of traditional brushstrokes.

Her work helped shift Abstract Expressionism away from its gestural intensity towards a calmer, more organic approach, emphasizing the importance of pure color. One of her most famous works, Mountains and Sea (1952), is often cited as a turning point in the development of Color Field Painting.

Frankenthaler once said, "You want to do something that reflects your own aesthetic but also something that will surprise you." Throughout her career, she continued to experiment with different techniques, mediums, and materials, including printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. As a pioneering woman in the art world, she received a major retrospective in 1989–1990, which was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and later traveled to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

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