Krasner and Pollock exhibition: Modern art's power duo redefined
The Boston Globe · Murray Whyte ·
Krasner’s genius emerges in a show that gives her top billing and blows apart Pollock’s claim to singular, naturalistic brilliance
NEW YORK — “Is this a painting?” Jackson Pollock asked his wife, Lee Krasner, in 1945, showing her a piece he’d made on the floor in their Long Island home with drips and splatters and not a single brush stroke. The experiment had prompted not revelation but self-doubt. He needed her to know for sure.
It’s not as famous a moment as it should be. There’s a reason for that. As legend had it, Pollock was the intuitive genius and Krasner the silent, stoic, long-suffering support structure that kept his brilliance from shambling into full-blown chaos.
But legends are simple things, and often not quite right because of it. The fractious, tragic relationship between Krasner and Pollock has always been one of those, until pretty much right now. “Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous,” the riveting, revelatory, and beautiful new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, changes all that. It explores the deeper dynamics of their romantic and creative alliance, unapologetically blowing apart Pollock’s claim to singular, naturalistic brilliance. The fact that Krasner takes top billing here is heavy with intent. Pollock, the kingpin of the Abstract Expressionist movement, needed — relied on — her help, her eye. With so much of her work here, she’s finally at center stage, nose-to-nose with her famous husband. In many ways that count, this is her show, long overdue, and recognition at last of her underacknowledged genius.
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