Meet the Heroines of Abstract Expressionism

As a movement, it’s generally understood that Abstract Expressionism started in 1940s New York City and, as was the case with many artistic movements, was dominated by male artists. But Rick Friedman, a Southampton-based art collector and founder of the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, would argue that it was the East End that ultimately became a hotbed for the movement, especially after Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning moved out to Springs — and it turns out, it wasn’t just men making the art.

This weekend, Southampton Arts Center opens “Heroines of the Abstract Expressionist Era: From the New York School to the Hamptons,” an exhibition highlighting 32 female artists who lived and worked on the East End.

The show includes more than 100 works of art, all by female artists, from the collection of Rick Friedman and Cindy Lou Wakefield and is curated by SAC’s executive director Christina Mossaides Strassfield. On view is work by both Jackson Pollock’s wife, Lee Krasner, and Willem de Kooning’s wife, Elaine de Kooning, but also on display are works by Perle Fine, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Alice Baber, Lynne Drexler and many others.

The show also celebrates women whose work, while not abstract, is associated with the Abstract Expressionist era, such as Mercedes Matter, Hedda Sterne, Jane Freilicher and Jane Wilson. Notably, East Hampton’s Audrey Flack, age 92, is the only living artist represented in the exhibition.

“She was there then, and she hung out at the bar with Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning,” Friedman noted. “She says a lot of these guys controlled the game, and they looked down upon women — they didn’t think they were serious painters. They took a back seat, but eventually they were all discovered.

“The Ab/Ex movement was the most significant arts movement of the 20th century,” he added. “These women were pioneering it. They were pioneering it!”

This season marks SAC’s 10th anniversary, and women have played a prominent role in the galleries lately. “Change Agents,” a show that ran this past summer, highlighted work from 14 female art collectors. As a collector himself, Friedman sees “Heroines of the Abstract Expressionist Era” as an opportunity for younger generations of art enthusiasts to explore works by these famed female artists of the 1950s and 1960s who migrated to the East End and found success on their own terms.

“When Rick started collecting, he really went full hog, which I think is amazing. He really wanted to get all of the artists who were associated with the area,” explained Strassfield. “He has a number of Elaine de Koonings, a number of Lee Krasners, a number of Dorothy Denises. I think he has one Buffie Johnson, one Ethel Schwabacher.”

She noted that Friedman has both early and later pieces by Elaine de Kooning.

“So you really see the evolution of how she started out as an abstract artist, and then was doing figurative work and then portraits,” said Strassfield. “You get the full gamut of these artists because there are a number of these pieces in the show.

“You’ll see the variety of abstraction [in the galleries], but you’ll see artists like Jane Wilson, and Jane Freilicher, who are known for their landscapes,” Strassfield added.

As a painter, Wilson’s career took flight in the early 1960s. In the mid-1950s, Wilson worked mostly in an Abstract Expressionist way, and by the 1960s, she was creating many of the expressionist landscape works she is known for today — her use of color is powerful, has a depth to it, and emanates an East End sunset.

Strassfield says both Wilson and Freilicher’s work “has an atmospheric quality to it, and the atmospheric quality of the landscape is an abstraction in itself … I’ve always loved this about Jane Wilson’s work.”

Another artist represented in this show is Alice Baber, whose work has recently made a resurgence in the art world. A close friend to Elaine de Kooning, Baber owned a home in Sag Harbor and was fond of the richness life on the East End offered. Her work is lyrical and fluid; consisting of watercolors and oil paintings. Though born in Charleston, Illinois, she lived in both New York and Paris in the 1960s. Baber not only was an artist, but a feminist and organizer for other artists — she curated a handful of women-artist shows in New York.

“I’ve always been aware of so many of the women artists who never got their full due,” said Stassfield who, in her previous position as museum director at East Hampton’s Guild Hall, highlighted many of these artists in shows, including Audrey Flack, Mercedes Matter and Hedda Sterne. “So I showed a lot of these artists, either in one-person shows or in group shows. And I always was surprised that so many of them just didn’t have the recognition that they deserve, like their male counterparts.

“For me, I always felt that this was so wrong,” Strassfield added.

Friedman noted that his art collection houses nearly 300 objects, some of them living in closets and some in his basement. He explained how the art world, locally and internationally, is continuously trying to find the next big artist, and as a result, collectors often forget about the ones who came before. But he holds a passion for these women artists.

“There’s fun in uncovering the artists. The art world, the galleries and museums are always looking for the new new thing, so if you look at this genre of women artists, one would say, ‘Well, Lee Krasner’s not the new new thing … she’s already made it. Joan Mitchell, she’s already made it.’ So, who is the new rediscovery? There’s a rediscovery right now of Alice Baber — nine months Alice Baber ago, you could buy her paintings for $3,000. One just sold last week for $700,000.”

“Heroines of the Abstract Expressionist Era: From the New York School to the Hamptons” is on view from October 7 through December 17. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. In addition, a conversation between the curator Christina Mossaides Strassfield and collectors Rick Friedman and Cindy Lou Wakefield will be held on Sunday, October 29, at 2 p.m. Exhibiting artist Audrey Flack will be present for a talk on Saturday, November 11, at 2 p.m. For more information, visit southamptonartscenter.org. Southampton Arts Center is at 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton.