Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011), a New York-born painter, is best known for her invention of the soak-stain technique (pouring heavily diluted oil paints onto an unprimed canvas, allowing the paint to merge with the canvas), which heavily influenced the second generation of Color Field painting in the 1960s. Initially part of the Abstract Expressionist movement, Frankenthaler used her revolutionary technique to create a watercolor-like effect in her abstractions of real and imaginary landscapes. To prepare for her artistic career which officially launched in 1952, Frankenthaler studied art at the Dalton School under Rufino Tamayo and at Bennington College in Vermont under Paul Feeley. In 1958, Frankenthaler married fellow artist Robert Motherwell; however, they divorced thirteen years later. She served on the council of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1985 to 1992, and she established the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation to promote greater public interest in and understanding of the visual arts. Her commendations include the National Medal of Arts (2001). Frankenthaler’s work is held in collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.