The 1950's was an era when abstract painting was developed into a phenomenon, whichinfluenced painters to try different styles to express their art. Robert Motherwell and HelenFrankenthaler were both married, but each had a different way of thinking when creating their art. I will compare and contrast these two artists of the 1950's.

            Helen Frankenthaler was born on December 12, 1928 in New York City, were she spentmost of her life. She studied in a number of schools and finally graduated from Benningtoncollege. Some of her most famous paintings are mountains and sea, Japanese maple, and Geisha.She was the first American painter to use implications of color to stain raw canvas to makeforeground colors and backgrounds. She was included as one of the first inventors of abstract painting.

            Robert Motherwell was born on January 24, 1915 in Aberdeen, Washington. He was aabstract expressionist painter and print maker. In 1937 he obtained a bachelor Degree fromStanford University. Black paint was one of the basic elements of his paintings. One of his wellknow works of art were Mexican night, Mallarmes swan, and Cambridge collage. He then diedon July 16, 1991 in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

            The two paintings that I will compare and contrast are Mexican night from RobertMotherwell and free fall from Helen Frankenthaler. These two paintings are unique in therescenes of mystery and how their color range was used. They both have three to four simplecolors and shapes. How they are different is that both paintings have different themes and colors.

            The 1950's was also a time when rock 'n' roll music was born. The movie industry wasgoing big and the Disney animation studios was created. The cowboy movies and television shows that were   watched by millions. And so the 1950's was a great era to be apart of and to enjoy.