Lee Krasner from the Depths of Despair to the Height of her Career

From her childhood in early 1900s Brooklyn to the end of her life in East Hampton, Lee Krasner painted with a distinctive, courageous vision. It was this vision that pushed her persevere as an artist in spite of adversity and tragedy. In this episode of Expert Voices, discover Lee Krasner’s resilient spirit and groundbreaking talent through her large-scale masterpiece The Eye is the First Circle, offered as a highlight of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction. Contemporary art specialist Saara Pritchard joins Eleanor Naire, curator at the Barbican Art Gallery and organizer of the upcoming exhibition Lee Krasner Living Colour, in an exploration of how The Eye is the First Circle exemplifies Krasner's iconic vision. Painted in 1960, this immense canvas is the crowning embodiment of Krasner’s Umber paintings, the highly lauded series of twenty-four works that have risen to acclaim as the creative pinnacle of her celebrated oeuvre. Created in the years following the sudden and tragic death of her husband, Jackson Pollock, the Umbers are defined by a gestural ferocity and ambition of scale unprecedented in Krasner’s earlier output. (16 May | New York)

[@kestralaurent5442]

I literally balled my eyes out standing in front of her later work at this exhibit. It was such a pivotal experience for me to watch this artist's work ascend into colour as she painted her way through grief, while I felt so alone in my own at that time.

[@michigandave9680]

Thank you so much for sharing this. We need to see more of her work.

[@michelepietra]

One of my favorite artists - fascinating, researched details provided by the brilliant art historian and curator, Eleanor Narnes. We are thrilled and excited to hear she is leaving London's Barbican and joining the Philadelphia Museum of Art as the head of Modern and Contemporary Art.

[@GraemeRobinson]

Really great to see in excellent definition Lee Krasners work and some contextualising of each piece.

Beautiful amazing work. Lee is a master of the brush stroke!

[@hyacinth1320]

I just love her work. I wish I could come to the show!

[@margorowe9052]

Lovely..way overdue..really enjoyed this..love her paintings

[@jacekpokrak9258]

The creative process that accompanies Lee Krasner, which is based on intuition and expression, is completely in line with contemporary Compmaturism. With her works, she invites the viewer to an endless adventure in which nothing is obvious, which is fascinating in her work

[@denisceballos9745]

A truly intriguing artist. 👏🏼 Thanks for the wonderful presentation.

[@E-Kat]

Never heard of her!! Thank you for this.

[@shaney4149]

Her art is Beautiful!!!

[@missusbarkdog]

Just really a wonderful little video.

[@johnjohnson3709]

I never really knew much about her work but this has really opened my eyes. I love her art!

[@rynjeff1073]

Lucian David read the book, 9th street women.

[@whitharris4607]

Ryn Jeff my favorite on the ab ex artists thus far. She was such an authentic woman, incredibly talented and a inspirational leader of her generation.

[@elenahelen8958]

Have just discovered this artist! Thank you you tube.

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

still love it!!

[@unbroken1010]

she was so underrated as usual the Sharks will buy her work and we will never be able to see it again

[@elisavieira737]

Beautiful xxx

[@cdheidt]

I enjoy Kraner's energy. Her works either repel or draw the viewer in. For me, it's an encounter with another realm.

[@whitharris4607]

Yes! I feel the same way. She held perceptions of a reality that many people can old dream of and most cannot fathom.

[@songflow2ok92]

Could you please expound on what another realm might consist of? Pablo must be spinning.

[@cdheidt]

@@songflow2ok92 I mean that Krasner's work has a primeval quality to it. Some of that stems from believe the artist's mark making, the way she lays paint down. It's very difficult for anyone, even great painters, to create marks that are unique, that zig when you thought they'd zag, so-to-speak. We are all trained from childhood to write and draw in very predictable ways, in standardized "acceptable" ways. That's why originality is so difficult to come by. I've been to art school myself, and teach art where I live. I tell my students that if you want to draw a flower (for example) go look at a flower and draw exactly what your eye sees, do not draw what you think a flower should look like. Otherwise, they will be turning in a cartoon, which is the way most people "draw". They don't truly observe, they decide without observing that flower what it should look like. It's a simulation, not a unique object. The way Krasner lays down her marks is unpredictable, and as a whole her image is stripped of convention and pretense. Then there is also the scale of her work, it's big like a doorway. I feel like I could walk right into it, like stepping into chaos, perhaps the artist's mind. Obviously this is my own subjective experience.

[@margorowe9052]

Yes..totally agree

[@user-pd9rm9cu7k]

Super!

[@goldsilverandiamonds]

Very nice.

[@desertportal353]

My God what beautiful work!

[@songflow2ok92]

Huh?

[@christianegonbarnthaler1426]

super art

[@elanaphi]

Awesome ! Thank you!

[@whitharris4607]

Y’all that keep saying her work “looks like Pollock” or is not valuable art because it does not depict recognizable images, sound so sadly uninformed and narrow minded.

[@thegraciecat1]

A 4 year old has problem with recognizable images also.

[@stephengreico2810]

Ok now you just sound like one of those art elitists who just love saying “oh you simple darling...you just don’t get it.” It’s extremely sanctimonious of you. The Eye of the First Circle is CLEARLY at least heavily influenced by Pollock. Idk if she outright copied him on purpose as a tribute but you can’t deny it’s similar. I won’t say abstract is just a bunch of nonsense and unrecognizable images as I am an abstract painter as one of my styles so I understand it’s worth even though nobody can ever fully understand it. It’s too subconscious. But to sit there and say people don’t understand because they don’t agree with you is entirely arrogant.

[@pablopedraza3655]

I like to say that Pollock's work looks like Krasner's.

[@AnthonyMonaghan]

@@pablopedraza3655 That's as ridiculous as the initial statement.

[@pablopedraza3655]

@@AnthonyMonaghan Thanks for your deep analysis :)

[@user-nz4yd3iu4t]

멋찝니다~~~

[@joemacaluso4627]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@raultamaris9295]

Después de conocer su trabajo, sospecho que sin ella, no habría Pollock

[@dougcampbell7648]

Always thought she along with Helen Frankenthaler , were totally underrated. I kind of cringed when in the movie Pollock, ( which I loved) , that her work was illustrated as much less than.

[@rezmela3872]

Check out the floor of this museum, AMAZING!

[@michaelmontano1]

killer good

[@cherylerome-beatty4677]

I wonder if this painting was hanging in a NY gallery or a gallery in Providence RI, and it was painted by a local living artist would you find it as fascinating or impressive? Is its beauty or significance simply that it was painted att a time when abstract expressionism was avant garde?

[@thanasdushku4075]

S'ka Art, pa një dëshpërim të madh.

[@mrJohnDesiderio]

Not at all like Pollack . Her images are more masculine than Pollack. Like cave painting. Cool stuff!

[@JoRiver11]

Masculine? Please. Let's leave gender out of it when discussing the appearance of art. And why would you think that cave paintings were done by men?

[@Poemsapennyeach]

Not enough of her work shown here. i.e....Before Pollock. After Pollock.

[@SanRemoMotelBar]

It's ironic isn't it... A truly accomplished painter in her own right, regardless of gender or association, which the actual exhibition made a point of. Yet here, the timeline of her life is pre-Pollock and post-Pollock. Yes, we get it, he's a giant of an artist, but he work was so diverse, and more importantly - influenced by so many other great, the colleges she attended, artists she learned under, artist friends she acquired. Let's also not forget that he was having an affair with her...

[@noumine]

it kinda reminds me of Pollock's "Mural," doesn't it?

[@darrinheaton4016]

She's a damn good woman painter.

[@jamesanonymous2343]

to understand Sotheby's experts you have to understand this, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !

[@Drbob369]

Tree bark attacked by a hatchet 😅

[@thegraciecat1]

She and Pollock both had talent issues. Misery loves company. They needed to hire Joan Mitchell over for some lessons. To hell with formal skills.

[@armingracanin5655]

Am only watching this bc I was bored this ain't art

[@atomaalatonal]

99percent of the people telling me that art has to resemble real life in a nice manner, are plain fascists, i swear it. maybe not on first sight, but after asking them how they came to that conclusion, they turn into them very quick.

[@songflow2ok92]

My 5 year old niece said that same thing to me lately, l asked her to look up "fascist" then try something more original.

[@billybussey]

meh

[@karlabritfeld7104]

Jackson Pollock knock offs.

[@phildimarino3929]

Sick of Krasner doing girly versions of Pollack, she was not Sonia Deluanay or Frankenthaler. Just bold leech of Pollack.

[@glauciafloresyreyes1833]

Pollock. Sorry. That's it: better Pollock. He was great! Why this "remake" ??? If it were a melody it would be plagiarism.

[@rafaelfarias4594]

very bad as an artist..I prefer it as marchand

[@alphajava761]

Krasner was a better artist than Pollock. I wish she had invested the time in her art rather than nursing Pollock. Other than the drip paintings, Pollock's other work was heavily influenced by other popular artists of that time.

[@JoRiver11]

Pollock copied the drip paintings from Janet Sobel. He saw an exhibition of hers the year before he started doing them. (And Sobel's are better)

[@alphajava761]

@@JoRiver11 Pollock could never get past his obsession with de Kooning. The mural at the Guggenheim and was the best thing he did. He did copy Sobel, yes I've seen that before. Pollock seemed to hack his way into things, when you do that your creative imagination dries up because it's not your idea(s).

[@JoRiver11]

@@alphajava761 I think that some people never had that many original ideas to start with, but succeed because they have an abundance of ambition and/or marketing skills.

[@alphajava761]

@@JoRiver11 Pollock had backers, Guggenheim and others I believe before he ever dripped. Having backers especially those who are connected pretty much guarantees you shows and sales. Basquiat had a backer but in his case his stuff was top shelf,original.

[@NnaemekaAmamasi]

art should be a basic ability to make recognisable shapes and colours. this scrambling about as art is just madness. and those who buy them are even crazier.

[@songflow2ok92]

Yes

[@juliankenning]

You don't get to generally decide what art should be. You are free to have your personal preferences, just as others are to have theirs, but you are in no place to judge what is crazy and what isn't.

[@NnaemekaAmamasi]

If i framed my painting towel(i.e the one i use in cleaning my brushes while i paint...) you would swear it was a masterpiece yet i know it isnt. Painting reqiures disciplined study of the laws of art, a mastery of them. the gentlemans work is escapism at best. its the equvalent of sitting on a piano and just hitting the keys at random. then you call that music!!!

[@songflow2ok92]

@@juliankenning I don't think we are trying to say what art should be. If a 5 year old scribbled and called it art, we know better. If a 35 year old does the same, we know better.

[@songflow2ok92]

I would love to see formal figure drawings by Lee or Jackson. My last drawing instructor would have a field day, lm guessing.

[@monkeygraborange]

Try as she might, Krasner never had an original voice. Her work is more about process than intellect.

[@stephengreico2810]

Interesting

[@redangrybird7564]

When an "artist" can't paint, he/she paints garbage. Some idiot billionaire will buy it. This is just two steps behind Piero Manzoni's "art" in tin cans.

[@Gulfstreams]

Why are you here? Why waste your time giving an opinion that literally is less than passing a belch. You are choosing to spend time on something you hate, that clearly do not understand. So go back to playing your little bird game.

[@redangrybird7564]

@@Gulfstreams I don't play computer games, my girlfriend does and hence the name I took for my channel . I am a portrait painter and interested in art, but what we see here is overpriced trash that Sotheby's is pretending to pass for art so a millionaire would buy it. When the sale's commission is 20% or 30%, there is a powerful incentive to sell this garbage for millions. This is two steps away from Piero Manzoni's "art" in tin cans. Don't you get it ??

[@etienne7774]

@@redangrybird7564 portrait painters many times do not understand abstract art., that's all. Just as atheists do not understand God.

[@redangrybird7564]

@@etienne7774 Thanks for your insights, your analogy is funny. I do some abstract paintings when I feel like, but I don't consider it art, just decorative paintings. To make art you need skills, brains and heart. To paint a good portrait you need these three, to paint abstract you don't require any of these, maybe just a little bit of heart if any. Monkeys, cats and elephants paint beautiful abstract paintings, but is this art? They centainly can't paint a good portrait.

[@etienne7774]

@@redangrybird7564 art is idolatry....rather look to Jesus.

[@sammysmith586]

Another fake artist who just likes to talk. Ho, hum.........

[@jayceeme2621]

Pure unadulterated crap. Art you see in the first grade. You CAN fool all the people all the time !!!