Long overshadowed by male contemporaries such as Jackson Pollock, female abstract expressionists will finally get some belated fawning starting June 12, when the Denver Art Museum debuts Women of Abstract Expressionism. The exhibit, open through September 25, is the first time paintings from Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, and 10 other important female artists from the 1940s, ’50s, and early ’60s will appear together. And they’ve got a 21st-century woman to thank for helping them shine. Pam Skiles, one of the DAM’s six art conservators, preserved several works in the show—including de Kooning’s 1959 oil-on-canvas “Bullfight” (pictured)—to draw out their original vibrancy.

(Read on to see how conservator Pam Skiles (pictured) revived Elaine de Kooning’s “Bullfight.”)

5280 June 2016
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