Lee Krasner

Lenore “Lee” Krasner (1908-1984) was a well-known American Abstract Expressionist who worked in oil on canvas, ink and charcoal drawings, and mixed-media collage, in which she often her cut up and reassembled her own work. Her work is often associated with the so-called “first generation” post-war New York School, although she was unique among them in her penchant for changing materials, subject matter, texture, and style—exploring Hard Edge, Action Painting, and Color Field painting—throughout her career. Her work often touched on themes of the self, nature, and modern life. Notoriously self-critical, Krasner was known to destroy her own work, resulting in a small body of surviving works (599 known). Although Krasner is often remembered as the wife of Jackson Pollack, their relationship was mutually influential and she rose to prominence in her own right. Krasner was featured in a major exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1969, The New American Painting and Sculpture: The First Generation.