concept:era modern
The Seasons
Oil and house paint on canvas by Lee Krasner, 1957. 235.6 × 517.5 cm. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Krasner's most ambitious painting, produced in Pollock's studio in East Hampton the year after his death. A major breakthrough in scale and compositional freedom.
Scholarly Significance
Abstract Expressionism / female artist — The Seasons is Krasner's most ambitious painting, produced in Pollock's studio the year after his death.
Notes
- ·Painted in Pollock's studio barn in East Hampton, the year after his death in a car accident (August 1956).
- ·Krasner's largest painting at the time; marks a decisive break from her earlier 'Little Image' series towards expansive, gestural all-over composition.
- ·The title evokes natural cycles and regeneration — a counterpoint to the grief of the moment in which it was made.
- ·House paint mixed with oil was also characteristic of Pollock; Krasner's use of the materials available in the studio where he had worked carries biographical charge.
- ·Purchased by the Whitney in 1987 following the critical reappraisal catalysed by the 1984 MoMA retrospective.