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“Not only has history been reduced largely to men only, but indeed to just a few men. This great community, this great revolution in art and writing, has been lost to us.”
- Mary Gabriel
Mary Gabriel, the writer of the book “Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art,” has much more to say about women and contemporary American art. She was also aware of the irony surrounding these remarkable women painters she wrote about—artists who themselves did not want to be categorized as such!
Follow us closely as we explore the legendary Ninth Street Show, what happened between May 21 and June 10, 1951, at 60 East Ninth Street in Greenwich Village, and the revolutionary Ninth Street Women behind it!
All About the Ninth Street Show: Shifting the Focus to New York Art Scene
The Ninth Street Show was organized by a group of radical artists in post-war New York who were tired of struggling for recognition and fame. This show eventually paved the way for American modern art after more than thirty-eight years of the European Avant-Garde’s dominance. It aimed to shift the focus to New York as the global capital of art.
The grand show was curated by Leo Castelli, marking his first curatorial work in the United States, while the artists handled the rest. Amid much uproar, 72 artists participated—each allowed to showcase only one work of art! This exhibition became a true breakthrough moment for American abstract art, leading to the mainstream acceptance of Abstract Expressionism.
The Radical Women Artists and Issues of Identity
There were some remarkable and revolutionary women Expressionist artists in the show who created marvels through their contemporary abstract works. Though Mary Gabriel knew that the women artists in her book might have disliked its title—and, in turn, the main idea behind her approach to feminist art—she sticks to the title Ninth Street Women.
In 1971, Elaine de Kooning expressed her disgust at the mention of ‘feminist’ in art history.
“To be put in any category not defined by one’s work is to be falsified.”
Elaine de Kooning
De Kooning might not have approved, but luckily for us, writer Mary Gabriel doesn’t take such extreme views. After all, Ninth Street Women sounds rich and vibrant—sharp and precise, much like the lives it portrays.
The story of New York’s post-war art scene has been told many times, but by shifting the focus away from its loud, male-dominated artist narratives, Gabriel offers a fresh perspective and challenges outdated norms and false notions about art and women.
9th Street Women: The Trailblazers Who Conquered Art
The world of modern art was once dominated by men—until the Ninth Street Women shattered conventions and made history. This powerful group of female artists, including Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, and Joan Mitchell, helped define Abstract Expressionism, proving that women were not just inspirations but creative forces with their own voices and visions.
In spite of all odds and societal barriers in the mid-20th century, they boldly painted, exhibited, and revolutionized American art.
Why Were the Ninth Street Women Called the Heroines of Modern Art
While 11 women participated in the Ninth Street Show, Mary Gabriel chose to focus on five of them - Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, and Grace Hartigan.
Due to the 20-year age span between them (Krasner was born in 1908 and Frankenthaler in 1928), they represent different chapters in Abstract Expressionism. Let’s dig deeper into these five heroines of modern art, with a special focus on Grace Hartigan, whose artworks sold like hotcakes!
Grace Hartigan and Her Ultra-Conventional Life
Of these five women, Grace Hartigan received the fastest, most special kind of acclaim during the 1950s. Her work was liked by wealthy patrons and museums, but she struggled to concentrate on her art and herself due to this intense exposure and fame. It was mostly Hartigan who inspired Gabriel to write the book on “Ninth Street Women.”
Hartigan later said she felt overwhelmed by the intense competition in the art world. When the author interviewed Hartigan in 1990, her stories about mid-century New York were so vivid and fascinating that Gabriel felt inspired to write this book.
“I cannot expect even my own art to provide all the answers—only to hope it keeps asking the right questions.”
- Grace Hartigan
Grace Hartigan, born in New Jersey, was the artist who got married early at 19, had a child at 20, and fell in love with art, encouraged by her husband. But she ran off to New York with her art teacher, leaving her child and husband in the care of her grandparents!
Of these five women, Hartigan was the only one then who had experienced the challenges of motherhood while being an artist! And, her story fascinated Mary Gabriel!
Breaking Barriers in a Male-Dominated World
Lee Krasner
“I happened to be Mrs. Jackson Pollock and that’s a mouthful. But I was also a painter before Pollock and before the term Abstract Expressionism.”
- Lee Krasner
The American Abstract Expressionist movement mostly centered around New York’s vibrant art scene, driven by figures like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. As post-war America was not that welcoming to the female painters and sculptors, it was a constant struggle for the wives of such phenomenal artists to show their remarkable talents to the world, stepping out of their husbands’ shadows.
Lee Krasner was an independent artist and wife of the great abstractionist Jackson Pollock, though she refused to be considered herself as an extension of her famous husband. Her relentless love for art and innovative collages redefined her abstractionism.
Elaine de Kooning
“A painting to me is primarily a verb, not a noun, an event first and only secondarily an image.”
- Elaine de Kooning
Elaine de Kooning, a prolific painter, art critic, and the wife of Willem de Kooning challenged traditional gender roles in the art world, often overshadowed by her husband. With her bold and gestural paintings, she tried to create a world of her own, making herself a significant figure in Abstract Expressionism and one of the significant Ninth Street Women.
The Ninth Street Show: A Defining Moment
As these women artists were struggling to defend their skills and the pressure of a male-dominated art world, the historic ‘Ninth Street Show’ in 1951 came as a breather for them! This exhibition featured the raw, emotional intensity of Abstract Expressionism and placed female abstract expressionists alongside their male peers and artists. That was indeed a great move!
Joan Mitchell
It was the story of the women who dared to enter the male-dominated art world through the energetic works like that of Joan Mitchell. Her sprawling compositions stood out as did her bold strokes, just like her tough exterior with a heart of a vulnerable artist. Her troubled Chicago childhood memories found expression on her magnificent canvases.
Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler, then a young and beautiful artist coming from a prominent New York family, pioneered the ‘soak-stain’ technique only at a young age of twenty-three! Her original works such as ‘Mountains and Sea (1952)’ blending pinks and blues in fluid, abstract landscapes, later influenced the Color Field concept, launching a new school of painting!
Legacy of the Ninth Street Women: Popular Shows & Events
The incredible 9th Street Women of abstract art have been the subject of much research, discussion, and theme for many shows & exhibitions in recent years.
- There have been several important shows by Lee Krasner since 2019 (like the show Lee Krasner – Living Color, Barbican art exhibition).
· Helen Frankenthaler has been steadily exhibited by Gagosian, the global network of art galleries, over the past years;
· Elaine de Kooning’s portraits were exhibited at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in a 2015-2016 exhibition;
· Grace Hartigan’s works were shown in ACA Galleries in New York in 2017;
· In 2021, a world premiere of Joan Mitchell’s work has been c0-organized by the SFMOMA and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The lives of these immensely talented, passionate, and eccentric artists shown in the American art scene inspire movie makers as they are no less intriguing than a gripping fiction! Of late, a TV show has been planned, to be called the Ninth Street Women, conceptualized by Amy Sherman Palladino and Daniel Palladino. This show will focus on the perspective of women painters of the mid fifties in New York, dominated by male gaze.
The 9th Street Influence Still Goes Strong!
“Art is not separate from life. It is an expression of the greatest need of which time is capable.”
- Lee Krasner
This extraordinary 9th Street Show not only carved their place in art history but paved the way for future generations of female artists. Their fearless creativity and defiance against gender biases redefined modern art and proved that talent will thrive in spite of all societal barriers, inspiring the next Gen-X artists.
The legacy of the Ninth Street Women reminds us that art is more than just beauty and aesthetics, it is about breaking barriers and creating new paths for others to follow, bold and unshaken.
“… the reverberations from the show were felt for years. In fact, they are still being felt. For the art world, the Ninth Street Show changed everything.”
- Mary Gabriel
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