Lee Krasner: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Lee Krasner trained in the academic studios of Cooper Union and the National Academy before Hans Hofmann's classroom and MoMA's Post-Impressionist holdings rewired her eye, and she spent five decades rebuilding her own painting from the ground up after each shift. This mix maps the European modernism she absorbed, the downtown New York scene she helped organize, the poetry and jazz she painted to, and the painters who claim her now.

The Kynda mix for Lee Krasner

• Key Influence · Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso (1907). Krasner said Picasso was the figure she measured herself against, and the shattered planar faces of the Demoiselles underwrote her own habit of cutting and reassembling the figure. She saw Picasso at the new Museum of Modern Art around 1929, and Cubist armature structures everything from her 1940s Little Image grids to the torn-canvas collages of the mid-1950s, where she literally scissored her own paintings into fragments.
• Influencia Obscura · Milky Way by Janet Sobel (1945). Sobel was a self-taught Ukrainian-born Brooklyn grandmother whose dripped and blown enamel pictures were seen by Clement Greenberg and Jackson Pollock at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery in 1944, before Pollock's own poured work. Greenberg later acknowledged the impression. For Krasner, working alongside Pollock in the Springs, Sobel is the erased precedent in the room: all-over painting arriving from the margins of the art world, not its center.
• Local Roots · Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian (1943). Mondrian arrived in New York in 1940 and joined the American Abstract Artists group, where Krasner was an active member and picket-line organizer. She recalled his praise of her work and their shared love of dancing, and Broadway Boogie Woogie is the painting where his grid breaks into syncopated pulse. Her Little Image paintings of 1946-49 run a comparable rhythm, an all-over beat of marks held in a tight lattice.
• Beyond the Medium · A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud (1873). Krasner read widely and was known among friends for reciting poetry from memory; Rimbaud's delirious, image-cascading prose poem belongs to the literary weather of the Abstract Expressionist circle, where Surrealist automatism and visionary verse licensed painting from the unconscious. The title of her 1956 painting Prophecy and the oracular naming across her series signal that register of seer-like utterance rather than formal problem-solving.
• Peer · Woman I by Willem de Kooning (1952). De Kooning and Elaine de Kooning were close to the Pollock-Krasner household, and de Kooning shared Krasner's refusal to abandon the figure's pressure inside abstraction. Both came out of a European-trained draftsmanship their drip-era colleagues lacked. Woman I was painted in the years Krasner was building her Earth Green pictures, and the two bodies of work argue the same case for abstraction that still remembers bodies.
• From the Canon · Prophecy by Lee Krasner (1956). Painted in the summer of 1956, left on the easel when she sailed for Europe, and the canvas she returned to after Pollock's death that August. Its pink, eye-studded figural forms mark the moment her abstraction reabsorbed the body, and it opens the Earth Green series. Krasner said she found it disturbing to look at, and it functions as the hinge between the collage years and the enormous grief paintings that followed.
• Key Collaborator · Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) by Jackson Pollock (1950). Krasner married Pollock in 1945, moved him out of Manhattan to Springs, managed his dealers, named many of his paintings, and after his death administered the estate with an acuity that built his market. The 1950 poured canvases are the work that partnership produced on his side of the barn door; her own all-over Little Image paintings had been underway since 1946, which complicates any simple story about who taught whom.
• Legacy · Painters' Progress by Elizabeth Murray (1981). Murray's shaped, fragmented, interlocking canvases take up exactly Krasner's practice of cutting painting apart and reassembling it into something more muscular. Murray belonged to the generation that rediscovered Krasner through the 1965 Whitechapel retrospective and the 1983 MoMA show, and her work makes the case Krasner's collages first made: that a painting can be built from broken pieces of painting.

What influenced Lee Krasner

• Hans Hofmann. Krasner took classes taught by Hofmann. (also via The Gate) “In 1937, she enrolled in classes taught by Hans Hofmann , which led her to integrate influences of Cubism into her paintings.” (Wikipedia)
• Museum of Modern Art. The article says the museum’s opening influenced Krasner. “Krasner was influenced by the opening of the Museum of Modern Art in 1929. She was very affected by Post-Impressionism and grew critical of the academic notions of style she had learned at the National Academy.” (Wikipedia)
• Cubism. Krasner integrated Cubist influences into her paintings. “In 1937, she enrolled in classes taught by Hans Hofmann , which led her to integrate influences of Cubism into her paintings.” (Wikipedia)
• George Bridgman. Krasner took a class led by Bridgman. “She also briefly enrolled in the Art Students League of New York in 1928. [ 14 ] There, she took a class led by George Bridgman who emphasized the human form.” (Wikipedia)
• Fauvism. Krasner’s still lifes reflected an interest in Fauvism. “The still lifes illustrated her interest in fauvism since she suspended brightly colored pigment on white backgrounds.” (Wikipedia)
• Post-Impressionism. Exposure to Post-Impressionism shaped Krasner’s interest in modern art. “Krasner's exposure to Post-Impressionism at the newly opened Museum of Modern Art in 1929 led to a sustained interest in modern art .” (Wikipedia)
• Jazz. Jazz (Henri Matisse) — culture for Lee Krasner (wikidata.org)
• The Red Studio by Henri Matisse (1911). The Red Studio (Henri Matisse) — titan for Lee Krasner (wikidata.org)
• Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso (1907). Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Pablo Picasso) — titan for Lee Krasner (wikidata.org)
• The Gate by Hans Hofmann (1959). The Gate (Hans Hofmann) — titan for Lee Krasner “In 1937, she enrolled in classes taught by Hans Hofmann, which led her to integrate influences of Cubism into her paintings.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud (1873). A Season in Hell (Arthur Rimbaud) — culture for Lee Krasner (openlibrary.org)
• System and Dialectics of Art by John Graham (1937). System and Dialectics of Art (John Graham) — ghost for Lee Krasner
• Ko-Ko by Charlie Parker (1945). Ko-Ko (Charlie Parker) — culture for Lee Krasner
• Milky Way by Janet Sobel (1945). Milky Way (Janet Sobel) — ghost for Lee Krasner

Peers and kindred spirits

• Willem de Kooning. De Kooning was part of Krasner’s New York School network. (also via Woman I) “There were to be three young American painters. Myself, de Kooning, whom I well knew, and an unfamiliar name, Jackson Pollock.” (ArtReview)
• American Abstract Artists. Krasner joined American Abstract Artists in 1940. “During the next three years she devoted herself to him and exhibited occasionally only in large group shows, principally with the American Abstract Artists.” (ArtReview)
• Federal Art Project. Krasner joined the Federal Art Project. “Becoming engaged in the W.P.A. Federal Arts Project, she and Harold Rosenberg became assistants to the muralist Max Spivak.” (ArtReview)
• Max Spivak. Krasner worked as Spivak’s assistant in the mural division. “Becoming engaged in the W.P.A. Federal Arts Project, she and Harold Rosenberg became assistants to the muralist Max Spivak.” (ArtReview)
• New York School. Krasner is described as an established New York School figure. “Her painting is firmly in the New York Abstract Expressionist tradition, and can stand on a par with any other painter who explores this mode.” (ArtReview)
• Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) by Jackson Pollock (1950). Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) (Jackson Pollock) — collaborator for Lee Krasner “However, Krasner's career was often overshadowed by that of her husband, Jackson Pollock, whom she married in 1945.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Art and Culture by Clement Greenberg (1961). Art and Culture (Clement Greenberg) — collaborator for Lee Krasner “These works were first exhibited by Eleanor Ward at the Stable Gallery in 1955 in New York City, but they received little public acclaim apart from a good review from Clement Greenberg.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Abstract Expressionism. The article associates Krasner’s work with Abstract Expressionism. “Lenore " Lee " Krasner (born Lena Krassner ; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American painter and visual artist active primarily in New York whose work has been associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement.” (Wikipedia)
• Mountains and Sea by Helen Frankenthaler. Mountains and Sea (Helen Frankenthaler) — peer for Lee Krasner “The other three women are Louise Bourgeois (1982), Helen Frankenthaler (1989) and Elizabeth Murray (2004).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• National Academy of Design. Krasner trained at the National Academy of Design. “She received her early academic training at the Women's Art School of Cooper Union , and the National Academy of Design from 1928 to 1932.” (Wikipedia)
• Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian (1943). Broadway Boogie Woogie (Piet Mondrian) — geography for Lee Krasner “She also received praise from Piet Mondrian who once told her "You have a very strong inner rhythm; you must never lose it." == Early career == Krasner supported herself as a waitress during her studies but it eventually became too diffi…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Woman I by Willem de Kooning (1952). Woman I (Willem de Kooning) — peer for Lee Krasner “By the 1940s, Krasner was an established figure among the American abstract artists of the New York School, with a network including painters such as Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Artists Union. Krasner was involved with the Artists Union. “She was intensively involved with the Artists Union during her employment with the WPA but was one of the first to quit when she realized the communists were taking it over.” (Wikipedia)
• Jackson Pollock 51 by Hans Namuth (1951). Jackson Pollock 51 (Hans Namuth) — collaborator for Lee Krasner “Pollock agreed, encouraged by his wife, Lee Krasner, who was aware of the importance of media coverage.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Cooper Union. Krasner trained at Cooper Union’s Women’s Art School. “She received her early academic training at the Women's Art School of Cooper Union , and the National Academy of Design from 1928 to 1932.” (Wikipedia)
• Art Students League of New York. Krasner briefly enrolled at the Art Students League of New York. “She also briefly enrolled in the Art Students League of New York in 1928. [ 14 ] There, she took a class led by George Bridgman who emphasized the human form.” (Wikipedia)
• Harold Rosenberg. The account identifies Krasner and Rosenberg as fellow assistants to Spivak. “Becoming engaged in the W.P.A. Federal Arts Project, she and Harold Rosenberg became assistants to the muralist Max Spivak.” (ArtReview)
• Mark Rothko (1903). Rothko was part of Krasner’s New York School network. “By the 1940s, Krasner was an established figure among the American abstract artists of the New York School , [ 1 ] with a network including painters such as Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko .” (Wikipedia)
• Ladybug by Joan Mitchell (1957). Ladybug (Joan Mitchell) — peer for Lee Krasner “In 2017 Krasner was one of the subjects of the book Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gabriel.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• John Graham. Krasner credits Graham with arranging a consequential exhibition in which she participated. “It was the artist John Graham, who was well-known before the war who arranged what was for me a key exhibit” (ArtReview)
• Chief by Franz Kline (1950). Chief (Franz Kline) — geography for Lee Krasner “She met future abstract expressionists Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still, and Bradley Walker Tomlin through this organization.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Abstract Painting by Ad Reinhardt (1963). Abstract Painting (Ad Reinhardt) — geography for Lee Krasner (wikidata.org)
• Tatyana Grosman. The Seasons (Lee Krasner) — geography for Tatyana Grosman (via The Seasons)

Who Lee Krasner influenced

• Clement Greenberg (1909). The article says Krasner greatly influenced Greenberg. (also via Art and Culture) “During the late thirties she studied with Hans Hoffman and met Clement Greenberg.” (ArtReview)
• Jackson Pollock. The text identifies Krasner as an influence on Pollock's art. (also via The Seasons, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)) “Krasner's extensive knowledge of modern art helped Pollock since she brought him up to date with what contemporary art should be. He was therefore able to make works that were more organized and cosmopolitan.” (Wikipedia)
• Some Living American Women Artists / Last Supper. Edelson incorporated Krasner’s likeness into the work. “Mary Beth Edelson 's Some Living American Women Artists / Last Supper (1972) appropriated Leonardo da Vinci 's The Last Supper , with the heads of notable women artists, including Krasner's, collaged over the heads of Christ and his apos…” (Wikipedia)
• Pollock. The film portrays Krasner. “As much as being a film about the creative process and the downward spiral of an artist, “Pollock” is also about an extraordinary marriage, with Krasner emerging as an equally fascinating character.” (Variety)
• Seek My Face. The novel’s main character is partly based on Krasner’s life. “In John Updike 's novel Seek My Face (2002), a significant portion of the main character's life is based on Krasner's.” (Wikipedia)
• Painters' Progress by Elizabeth Murray (1981). Painters' Progress (Elizabeth Murray) — legacy for Lee Krasner “The other three women are Louise Bourgeois (1982), Helen Frankenthaler (1989) and Elizabeth Murray (2004).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Teenage Wildlife by Cecily Brown (2003). Teenage Wildlife (Cecily Brown) — legacy for Lee Krasner
• Shade by Amy Sillman (2007). Shade (Amy Sillman) — legacy for Lee Krasner