A review by miguelf
Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York by Alexander Nemerov

3.0

This is a fairly straightforward artist profile of Frankenthaler. It’s a little lackluster in spite of the author’s clear interest and enthusiasm about his subject: maybe it’s the super privileged background that never feels like Frankenthaler was ever challenged besides the obvious misogynist culture of the US in the 50’s to of course contend with. The descriptions of the time and the thoughts expressed just never feel very immersive or a world in which I wanted to get to know better, as opposed to, say, the intimate and more riveting portrait that was published last year of Sylvia Plath’s life in ‘Red Comet’ who were contemporaries with somewhat similar backgrounds.