Awareness: Artist Spotlight #8

Lee Krasner(Lena Kreisner) b. October 27, 1908 d. June 19, 1984

Lee Krasner, born Lena Kreisner in 1908, is an Abstract Expressionist painter, who was an important figure in the blend of abstract form with a psychological content. She was also one of the leaders in developing the "all-over" composition and inspired her husband, Jackson Pollock, who gained fame through "all-over" compositions. Krasner was constantly revising her style and aesthetics, calling these revisions "breaks." On of her main reasons for the "breaks" was to distance herself from what she called the "rigid and repetitive" works of artists such as Barnet Newman and Mark Rothko. Krasner was a perfectionist which lead her to cut up works that in her mind were subpar and recycle the fabric to make collages, even collecting some of her husbands scraps and incorporating them into the work. Sadly, because of this incessant destruction of her past works, there is not a large amount of her work remaining. She has drawn inspiration from a number of different art movements including Cubism, which can be seen in he work Seated Nude.

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Self-Portrait
Lee Krasner
c.1930
Oil on Linen
30 1/8 × 25 1/8 in. (76.5 × 63.8 cm)
Jewish Museum
Long Island, New York

Seated Nude
Lee Krasner
c. 1940
Charcoal on Paper
25 x 18 7/8" (63.5 x 48.0 cm)
​Museum of Modern Art
New York City, New York

Number 3 (Untitled)
Lee Krasner
c. 1951
Oil on Canvas
6' 10 1/2" x 57 7/8" (209.5 x 146.8 cm)
​Museum of Modern Art
New York City, New York

Untitled
Lee Krasner
c. 1964
Felt-tip pen, pastel, and acrylic on paper
22 1/4 x 30 3/8" (56.5 x 77.2 cm)
​Museum of Modern Art
New York City, New York

Gaea
Lee Krasner
c. 1966
Oil on Canvas
69" x 10' 5 1/2" (175.3 x 318.8 cm)
Museum of Modern Art
New York City, New York

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More Information About Lee Krasner: 
Watch this video, stopping at 2:37: Link
Go to this MoMA webpage and scroll down and listen to the 3 minute audio clip: Link
Watch his video: Link
Read this Khan Academy Article: Link

Questions:
1. How was Krasner's work affected by the death of her husband, Jackson Pollock, in 1956?
​2. What type of abstraction does Krasner make? And how does her interest in Nature reveal . itself in this type of abstraction?
3. What was the cause of Krasner's interest in surrealism and how did it impact her artwork?