Women in Art: Lee Krasner (1908-1984)

Lee Krasner:

Lee Krasner was an American Abstract Expressionist known for her unique contribution to the advent of Abstract Expressionism. She was a key transitional figure within abstraction and did this by connecting early twentieth-century art with new ideas of postwar America. As a significant postwar American painter, she had great artistic versatility and advanced skill with intensive training in art theory. She helped devise the “all-over” technique which influenced her husband’s, Jackson Pollock, “drip paintings”. Another technique/strategy she used was to take “breaks” in order to revise her aesthetic, allowing her to improvise her art style. For example, her paintings/collages show her exploration of colours and graceful rhythmic forms.

Krasner developed her own style of geometric abstraction that was grounded in floral motifs and rhythmic gestures. She was unique in terms of her commitment to using hard-edged figurative elements and a certain amount of cerebral control. This is contrastive to the less-controlled automatism that was practiced by her contemporaries.

I find Krasner’s works fascinating. Her abstraction is unlike any other artist I’ve ever seen and I find myself enjoying her style quite a bit. While she was an avid advocator of her husband’s works, Jackson Pollock, she became overshadowed by his art and I do wish that she could’ve gotten the recognition as much if not more than he did as her contribution to Abstract Expressionism was crucial.

Artworks:

Untitled (Little Image Series) (1949) (Oil on canvas)
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/pkhouse/images/krasner-untitled.jpg
Igor (1943) (Oil on canvas)
https://arthive.com/res/media/img/orig/work/8f3/428354.jpg
Right Bird Left (1965) (Oil on canvas)
https://awarewomenartists.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/lee-krasner_right-bird-left_1965_aware_women-artists_artistes-femmes-1500×786.jpg
Portrait in Green (1966) (Oil on canvas)
https://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Krasner-_Portrait-in-Green_-1966.jpg
Still Life on a Table (1938) (Oil on paper)
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/482519/1005648/restricted

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References:

  • “Lee Krasner Overview and Analysis.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-krasner-lee.htm.
  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Lee Krasner.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Lee-Krasner.

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