The Lee Krasner: Living Colour exhibition at the Barbican celebrates her work and life as a key figure in American art. Lenore “Lee” Krasner was an America abstract expressionist painter who drew inspiration from the works of Henri Matisse and Piet Mondrian.
Married to fellow abstract expressionist painter, Jackson Pollock, the work of Krasner was often overshadowed by their marriage, hence she became the androgynous ‘Lee’. Krasner’s art was very much sculpted by her marriage to Pollock; she couldn’t be a realist or a cubist, she had to be out there and abstract like her husband.
At the time, Abstract Expressionism was a male dominated movement, within this exhibition you see Krasner trying to find her space amongst them. The Barbican’s exhibition takes you through Krasner’s life from an outstanding art student to the very end. Lee Krasner: Living Colour is the first major presentation of her work in Europe for over 50 years, so head to the Barbican and watch her story unfold before you.
Lee Krasner in her studio in the barn, Springs, 1962, Photo by Hans Namuth. Lee Krasner Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington
Lee Krasner, Icarus, 1964, Thomson Family Collection © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Courtesy Kasmin Gallery, Photo by Diego Flores
Lee Krasner, Through Blue, 1963 © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Photograph by Christopher Stach
Lee Krasner, Untitled, 1969, © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Courtesy Kasmin Gallery
Lee Krasner Desert Moon, 1955, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). © The Pollock Krasner Foundation. © 2018. Digital Image Museum Associates LACMAArt
Lee Krasner Mosaic Table, 1947 Private Collection. Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery