Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York

This biography of Helen Frankenthaler by art historian Alexander Nemerov paints an exhilarating picture of the art scene in 1950s New York. From her Upper East Side upbringing to her life-altering first encounter with the work of Jackson Pollock to her efforts to chart her own course in a male-dominated art world, Nemerov explores how Frankenthaler came of age as an artist. The book is organized into eleven chapters, each taking a specific date or event as a jumping off point. Nemerov calls this choice “true to Helen” in that “the singularity of a day offers me an unscientific precision—a fluid glimpse into a moment—like Helen’s own.”