This extraordinary examination of the work of colour field painter Helen Frankenthaler overturns assumptions about the artist whose work has been burdened by its label as the bridge between Pollock and what was possible Trained as a painter Alison Rowley brings a keen eye to Frankenthaler s paintings returning to the fore the artist s debt not only to Jackson Pollock but also to Cezanne and speculating for the first time as to her artistic responses to wider political events in particular the Rosenberg trial Making a fascinating case too for the connections between the breakthrough work Mountains and Sea and Lily Briscoe s painting in Virginia Woolf s novel To the Lighthouse this beautifully written book provides crucial new insights into Frankenthaler s practice as a painter who is also a woman