Primarily known for her large, gestural canvases, Frankenthaler regularly brought her painterly sensibilities to printmaking, mastering a range of print techniques over the course of her career. In 1981 she experimented with monoprints, which are created as unique images rather than in an edition of multiples.

For Monoprint IV Frankenthaler recycled a trial proof for Cameo, a print that she had created the previous year, reinventing it as the basis for a new composition. She layered other woodblocks on top of the proof, then finished the image by adding ink, pastel, and paint by hand, bringing some of the spontaneity associated with her painting to the woodcut and, in the process, creating a singular work of art. For a support, Frankenthaler chose a delicate Japanese handmade paper, and the thin, semi-translucent sheet lends an ephemeral quality to the work.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)