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Lee Krasner

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description Lee Krasner Overview

Lee Krasner was an American painter and a central figure in Abstract Expressionism whose work included gestural paintings, mosaics, drawings, and collages assembled from earlier compositions. She repeatedly revised her visual language rather than maintaining one signature format, moving between tightly structured images and large, rhythmic canvases. Her 1957 painting The Seasons exemplifies the scale and organic movement of her mature work and is held by the Whitney Museum of American Art.

help Lee Krasner FAQ

Was Lee Krasner married to Jackson Pollock?

Yes, Lee Krasner married fellow Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock in 1945, and the two lived and worked together in Springs, Long Island, New York. After Pollock's death in a 1956 car crash, Krasner continued to produce major work and became an important steward of his legacy.

What are Lee Krasner's most significant paintings?

One of her best-known large-scale canvases is The Seasons, completed in 1957 and now in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. She is also recognized for her collage-based works, in which she cut up and reassembled her own earlier paintings.

Did Lee Krasner study under any notable artists?

Krasner trained at the National Academy of Design and also studied with Hans Hofmann, the influential German-born teacher who helped introduce European modernist ideas to American artists in New York. Hofmann famously praised her work but once made a comment about it not looking like it was made by a woman, to which she reportedly replied, 'I didn't know it was supposed to.'

Was Lee Krasner overshadowed by Jackson Pollock during her lifetime?

Yes, for much of her career Krasner's reputation was eclipsed by Pollock's celebrity, and she often prioritized promoting his work over her own. However, critical reassessment beginning in the 1970s and accelerating after major retrospectives has firmly established her as one of the central figures of Abstract Expressionism in her own right.