After completing her doctoral dissertation, John Locke: A Science of Ethics, in 1964, she studied art in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière under the sculptor Ossip Zadkine.[9][6].
[11] The Blumenfelds moved permanently to Europe in the late 1960s, eventually settling in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester in 1970 where Helaine also has her UK studio.
[12] A turning point in Blumenfeld's career came with her 1974 visit to Pietrasanta in Italy which eventually led her to add marble as one of her primary mediums.
She had originally gone there to do bronze casting, but Alicia Penalba, another sculptor working in Pietrasanta, encouraged her to try sculpting in marble and introduced her to master carver Sem Ghelardini.
The later years of her career have seen several major retrospective exhibitions of her work including those at the Royal British Society of Sculptors (2008),[16] Pietrasanta in the Piazza del Duomo and Chiesa di Sant'Agostino (2011),[17] Salisbury Cathedral (2013),[18] and Bowman Sculpture in London (2015).
[20] The largest solo exhibition to date of the work of Helaine Blumenfeld was presented at Canary Wharf, London, from 16 March to 18 September 2020.
[21][22] Eight of her artwork, including Meridiana, Mysteries, Taking Risks, Illusion, Fortuna, VENUS, ASCENT, and Metamorphosis, are now displayed and free to visit at Canary Wharf Art Trail.