Artist Lee Krasner

Modernist abstract painter and collage artist Lee Krasner, wife of Jackson Pollock, lived in the shadow of her famous husband for much of her married life.  Born in 1908 in Brooklyn to Russian-Jewish immigrants, she was the youngest of six children, and the only one born in America.  After high school, she was awarded a scholarship to attend the Women's Art School of Cooper Union.  She finished her studies under the renowned German artist Hans Hoffman.  Through her exposure to Hoffmann's modernist theories, her formerly naturalist paintings and drawings took on a cubist approach.  Krasner joined the American Abstract Artists, which afforded her more opportunities to exhibit her work.

Krasner had the misfortune of graduating in the midst of the Great Depression.  She supported herself by modeling and waitressing.  In 1934 Krasner got a break.  She landed a job painting murals for the WPA public works of art project in New York.  Thanks to FDR's New Deal art program, Krasner was able to work steadily up until 1943, when the agency was dissolved.

In 1941, Krasner became involved with Jackson Pollock, whom she married in 1945.  They moved to East Hampton, Long Island, where Krasner became a champion for Pollock's work.  Her marriage to Pollock unraveled due to his alcoholism, and Krasner's art took a turn too.  She began experimenting with multimedia collages, and held an exhibition in 1955.  The following year Jackson Pollock was killed in a drunk-driving accident, so Krasner, struggling with grief, moved to Paris for a while.

Back in Manhattan in the 1960's, Lee Krasner returned to refining nature-inspired works.  She had lived in her husband's shadow for a long time, but the 1960-1970's was her time.  He had a retrospective sol exhibition at London's Whitechapel Gallery, later another solo exhibition at the Whitney.  Krasner never got the recognition she deserved, living most of the time in the shadow of her famous husband.