A nice essay about the continued increase in interest in Helen Frankenthaler as her works relate to contemporay paitning, here.
What Frankenthaler is best known for is her development of the “stain-painting” technique that influenced the work of the color field painters.“Early on, inspired by the example of Jackson Pollock, she developed a technique of thinning oil paint with turpentine and applying it directly onto unprimed canvas, laid on the floor,”
Smith explains.
“This allowed her to make paintings that approximated the idea of drawing with color, achieved through a balance of spontaneity and control in the application of the paint.”
Smith says
“the contributions of women artists of the Abstract Expressionist generation are undergoing a significant revisionist study today…a new generation of artists, curators, and scholars is looking at her work with fresh eyes and seeing it as highly contemporary in the way it relates to current concerns in painting.”
Frankenthaler’s work is discussed several times in the book Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques .