What do you think?
Rate this book
Lee Krasner: A Biography
Perhaps best known as the long-suffering wife of Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner is now, finally, being recognized as one of the 20th century’s modernist masters. In Lee Krasner , author Gail Levin gives us an engrossing biography of the painter—so memorably portrayed in the movie Pollack by actor Marcia Gay Harden, who won an Academy Award for her performance—a firebrand and trailblazer for women’s rights as well as an exceptional artist who led a truly fascinating life.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published March 10, 2011
98 people are currently reading
1331 people want to read
About the author
Gail Levin
67 books22 followersDistinguished Professor of Art History, Baruch College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
October 13, 2011
I enjoyed learning about Lee Krasner but thought this biography could have been about 100 pages shorter. Really well researched by the author, who apparently knew Krasner in her later years, maybe she needed to take a step back from her subject and realize that not every detail is important. Oh, and the repetitiveness of certain facts: Krasner and de Kooning did not get along, the Harold Rosenberg/ Clement Greenberg critic faceoff, Lee Krasner was painting abstractly before she met Pollock, she was a "tough old bird", she was Jewish, she was not beautiful. Mentioning these things even a few times throughout the book would be enough to drive the point home but the author managed to find about 5o different ways to repeat each of these facts throughout the book. It was maddening.
I wish there had been more analysis of Krasner's work, more context for what was happening in her life and the world around her when each painting was created. I wish I knew how she fit into the realm of "women artists" worthy of retrospectives at the same time as Krasner such as Louise Nevelson. Instead, we get single sentences telling us that these women were contemporaries, that Krasner felt thankful for the feminist movement all the while keeping herself separate from it, and no more expounding on something potentially very interesting. Instead we get dry fact after fact that was repetitive and could have been left out.
On the positive, I do feel that I really got a nice overview of who Lee Krasner was, why she has been overshadowed by Pollock all these years, and how she herself was responsible for putting herself in the background for some of it. I came out of this book respecting Lee Krasner more, but liking her artwork less.
I wish there had been more analysis of Krasner's work, more context for what was happening in her life and the world around her when each painting was created. I wish I knew how she fit into the realm of "women artists" worthy of retrospectives at the same time as Krasner such as Louise Nevelson. Instead, we get single sentences telling us that these women were contemporaries, that Krasner felt thankful for the feminist movement all the while keeping herself separate from it, and no more expounding on something potentially very interesting. Instead we get dry fact after fact that was repetitive and could have been left out.
On the positive, I do feel that I really got a nice overview of who Lee Krasner was, why she has been overshadowed by Pollock all these years, and how she herself was responsible for putting herself in the background for some of it. I came out of this book respecting Lee Krasner more, but liking her artwork less.
March 20, 2011
Shortly before World War I, Marie-Hortense Cézanne, widow of the painter Paul, spent a weekend in Monaco as the guest of an art dealer. He granted her unlimited credit at the casino, and after losing at the gaming tables, she had to cede him a cache of her husband's best watercolors to settle accounts. The heirs of a great artist must learn to swim with sharks.
Not such easy prey, however, was Jackson Pollock's widow, the tough-minded painter Lee Krasner. Aware that Pollock's legacy was potentially worth millions, she patiently cultivated the market for his work, sold nothing on the cheap and flatly rebuffed the art-world grandees who hoped to profit by "advising" the estate. Krasner even conducted business for a time through London dealers, cutting New York's culture vultures completely out of the picture...
The rest of this review is available free online at the Wall Street Journal's website:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
Not such easy prey, however, was Jackson Pollock's widow, the tough-minded painter Lee Krasner. Aware that Pollock's legacy was potentially worth millions, she patiently cultivated the market for his work, sold nothing on the cheap and flatly rebuffed the art-world grandees who hoped to profit by "advising" the estate. Krasner even conducted business for a time through London dealers, cutting New York's culture vultures completely out of the picture...
The rest of this review is available free online at the Wall Street Journal's website:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
April 1, 2020
3.5 stars
Krasner is fascinating. And honestly her marriage to Pollock is the least of it. A woman from a working class Jewish immigrant family who chose art as a career. Attended Cooper Union, cut her teeth as a professional artist in the WPA during the Depression. Constantly reinvented her own style and art practice. Safeguarded Pollock’s legacy by presciently pushing for a catalogue of his work to stave off fakes and pushed valuing and pricing for American painters’ work. Fully credited the feminist movement for finally getting her due and recognition as an artist in her own right in her later years.
Levin does her justice in this bio. Mostly. I do wish people would stop writing about her looks and “lack of conventional beauty.” Who gives a shit?
Krasner is fascinating. And honestly her marriage to Pollock is the least of it. A woman from a working class Jewish immigrant family who chose art as a career. Attended Cooper Union, cut her teeth as a professional artist in the WPA during the Depression. Constantly reinvented her own style and art practice. Safeguarded Pollock’s legacy by presciently pushing for a catalogue of his work to stave off fakes and pushed valuing and pricing for American painters’ work. Fully credited the feminist movement for finally getting her due and recognition as an artist in her own right in her later years.
Levin does her justice in this bio. Mostly. I do wish people would stop writing about her looks and “lack of conventional beauty.” Who gives a shit?
September 26, 2012
This volume is a long over due recognition of a great American artist. Ironically as author Gail Levin points out, this artist, so instrumental in creating an American art saw art as a universal, not a national, endeavor. Similarly, she felt the same about gender; there should be no "female painters" or "lady's shows". Because her life and art are testaments to her beliefs, the book is understandably celebratory.
Lena Krasner was not a child to accept gender discrimination. She resented segregation in the synagogue and customs that dictated that she should marry. She single mindedly pursued her passion both fighting and enduring gender discrimination at every turn.
It can be concluded from what is presented by Levin, that without Krasner, Jackson Pollock's work might not have come to the forefront. She made the connections by courting dealers and curators. She was not his muse, but certainly was his promoter and protector. She gave him visibility in a way that he could not have done for himself.
Levin shows how Krasner's standing as an artist has been mitigated twice due to her gender- her being as a female and through her marriage to Pollock. The arbiters of the art world would not accept her until they were shaken into consciousness by the women's movement. Even then, they could not tease her art from his. A look at the plates of this book, clearly shows, as Krasner says, that she was influenced by Matisse and Picasso and "never dripped". She always brushed onto a vertical canvas.
I would like to give the book 5 stars for Gail Levin's research and the informed background she brings to the subject from years of work in the study of American art, but the text is uneven. There are great sections while others read like a collection of note cards. The chronological order helps to tell the story and place the people and issues in time and place. There is an abundance of plates of both Krasner's life and her art.
Lena Krasner was not a child to accept gender discrimination. She resented segregation in the synagogue and customs that dictated that she should marry. She single mindedly pursued her passion both fighting and enduring gender discrimination at every turn.
It can be concluded from what is presented by Levin, that without Krasner, Jackson Pollock's work might not have come to the forefront. She made the connections by courting dealers and curators. She was not his muse, but certainly was his promoter and protector. She gave him visibility in a way that he could not have done for himself.
Levin shows how Krasner's standing as an artist has been mitigated twice due to her gender- her being as a female and through her marriage to Pollock. The arbiters of the art world would not accept her until they were shaken into consciousness by the women's movement. Even then, they could not tease her art from his. A look at the plates of this book, clearly shows, as Krasner says, that she was influenced by Matisse and Picasso and "never dripped". She always brushed onto a vertical canvas.
I would like to give the book 5 stars for Gail Levin's research and the informed background she brings to the subject from years of work in the study of American art, but the text is uneven. There are great sections while others read like a collection of note cards. The chronological order helps to tell the story and place the people and issues in time and place. There is an abundance of plates of both Krasner's life and her art.
May 3, 2018
This was heavily reduced in the bookshop I picked this up from, which I thought maybe spoke to how peripheral/unknown an artist Krasner is. But after reading this maybe it speaks also to how poor a biography this is. Maybe there just isn't much to go on. She was marginalized by her sex, dismissed as Mrs Jackson Pollock and as such maybe the source material to the biographer is not as rich as other (male) artists of her time.
Sloppy writing, the frequent first instance phrased references to events which had already been covered in previous chapters. Also too many references made to Krasners appearance. Not done in any sociological/feminist context either, which I didn't like.
Sloppy writing, the frequent first instance phrased references to events which had already been covered in previous chapters. Also too many references made to Krasners appearance. Not done in any sociological/feminist context either, which I didn't like.
March 23, 2013
I do not like this book. It's a string of facts with no soul. Lee Krasner remains unknown to me. The one good thing is that color reproductions of her art are included. I read the Ebook, so didn't discover this until.i came upon the pages, toward the end. Thumbing through a paper book would have shown me the art right away. OK, so there is a heart to the book. Her art.
January 31, 2019
A fascinating story of a very interesting, talented and determined woman. Levin gives a great deal of clarity to Krasner’s life as an artist, a woman, a wife and advocate for Pollock. On occasion the detail is a bit overdone... especially in the first 100 pages, and then the detail enlightens and magnifies the importance of the New York art scene in, the 40s, 50s and 60s. Personally I had not considered all that took place at the time. All the wonderful museums that I take for granted were not yet there... The MOMA, The Guggenheim, it’s hard to imagine NY without them. A lovely book, a very interesting story, one that every artist should read.
December 8, 2023
if i’m being totally honest this book was a *bit* of a slog (which is fair given that it was 450+ pages of pure biography). still, i’m glad i read this book.
it’s nice to feel like you get to know the person behind the paintings. levin is an extremely fastidious biographer who builds krasner’s story through the interactions she had with others. it was a real treat to hear the voices behind the names we hear about so much, and to imagine what it would feel like to know them all today.
as a lover of the post war period in new york city, i cannot recommend this book enough, just be prepared to take your time.
it’s nice to feel like you get to know the person behind the paintings. levin is an extremely fastidious biographer who builds krasner’s story through the interactions she had with others. it was a real treat to hear the voices behind the names we hear about so much, and to imagine what it would feel like to know them all today.
as a lover of the post war period in new york city, i cannot recommend this book enough, just be prepared to take your time.
March 29, 2011
The Brooklyn-born daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia, by the time Lena Krasner was thirteen, she knew she wanted to be a painter. She studied art at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design, worked as a nude model and waitress, enrolled in teaching classes at City College, and, during the Great Depression, took WPA jobs (one involved drawing fossils for a geology textbook).
An early abstract impressionist, Krasner was already peers with artists like Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, and Piet Mondrian, when she met and married Jackson Pollock. But due to the pervasive sexism of her times—and of the art world—it would take many years for her to achieve real critical recognition of her own. Krasner and Pollock enjoyed a productive creative marriage, but it was also a troubled one. A heavy drinker, Pollock was saddled with a host of psychiatric problems (as Pollock’s brother put it, “We are sure that if he is able to hold himself together his work will become of real significance,”).
As Pollock’s career took off, Krasner directed her considerable energy and talents towards promoting his work and trying to keep his destructive alcoholism in check—while dealing with the frustration of suddenly being known simply as “Mrs. Jackson Pollack." Later critics would acknowledge that the marriage was “at once the greatest single advantage and the greatest handicap to her career.”
Even after her husband’s tragic, tabloid death, over and over again, Krasner’s life story was “picked over for tidbits to serve other agendas.” Later in life, Krasner called herself a "survivor" and it's easy to see why. The cultural, historical and political movements she lived through were diverse, and weathering them as both an individual and an artist clearly was no small feat. No portrait of Jackson Pollock—or the abstract expressionist movement at large—is complete without a picture of Krasner’s life, but her life story is also very much a story about feminism’s battles, a struggle best summed up by a few lines of French poet Arthur Rimbaud painted on her wall: “To whom shall I hire myself out? What beast must one adore? … What lie must I maintain?”
An early abstract impressionist, Krasner was already peers with artists like Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, and Piet Mondrian, when she met and married Jackson Pollock. But due to the pervasive sexism of her times—and of the art world—it would take many years for her to achieve real critical recognition of her own. Krasner and Pollock enjoyed a productive creative marriage, but it was also a troubled one. A heavy drinker, Pollock was saddled with a host of psychiatric problems (as Pollock’s brother put it, “We are sure that if he is able to hold himself together his work will become of real significance,”).
As Pollock’s career took off, Krasner directed her considerable energy and talents towards promoting his work and trying to keep his destructive alcoholism in check—while dealing with the frustration of suddenly being known simply as “Mrs. Jackson Pollack." Later critics would acknowledge that the marriage was “at once the greatest single advantage and the greatest handicap to her career.”
Even after her husband’s tragic, tabloid death, over and over again, Krasner’s life story was “picked over for tidbits to serve other agendas.” Later in life, Krasner called herself a "survivor" and it's easy to see why. The cultural, historical and political movements she lived through were diverse, and weathering them as both an individual and an artist clearly was no small feat. No portrait of Jackson Pollock—or the abstract expressionist movement at large—is complete without a picture of Krasner’s life, but her life story is also very much a story about feminism’s battles, a struggle best summed up by a few lines of French poet Arthur Rimbaud painted on her wall: “To whom shall I hire myself out? What beast must one adore? … What lie must I maintain?”
November 3, 2012
I will say Levin is thorough but it does get somewhat boring with all of her "list's" of who's who at what opening - school etc in the first half of the book. Then is gets bogged down with Pollock which I guess is natural. The book really takes off after the death of Pollock. It is then that I feel I finally got into the person Lee Krasner really was. I would recommend plugging through because the outline of the abstract expressionist movement can be found in the Krasner life story.
June 23, 2013
Overshadowed by her husband Jackson Pollock, Krasner was a wonderful artist in her own right. This bio tells her story well, and with it a woman's view of the macho abstract expressionist movement. So many bios turn out dry as dirt, filled with long lists of dates and people that make me doze off. This one has its share, but not to a burdensome degree, and the drama of Krasner's life takes the lead.
March 14, 2012
The artist daughter of immigrant Jews, Lee Krasner balked at the notion of a purely "American" art. She was smart, tough, sophisticated, and vulnerable, every bit the match for her difficult husband, Jackson Pollock, and the critics who fought for his favors. This bio captures the mental toughness and critical eye that helped Krasner navigate the macho world of Expressionism.
December 5, 2012
Slogged through this book for an arts book club. It was like reading a 700 page research paper that needed a good editor. While the topic was an interesting one, the book was slow going because of the author's focus on unnecessary minutiae. I felt that I learned about Krasner and the Abstract Expressionists, but some editing would have made it a more pleasurable read.
August 1, 2011
I was really looking forward to this, I enjoy Lee Krasner and the discussion of women in art, but it was just poorly written and the research seemed bias with holes in it. Just...bad, bad biography writing.
October 21, 2011
This was a fabulous biography. I know understand who Lee Krasner was and what drove her life as an artist and as a wife to the tormented "genius," Jackson Pollock. Levin also does a great job at capturing the times with her many details about the artists that crossed paths with Krasner.
May 3, 2015
I loved this book. it was right up my alley with lots of details about Krasner and her struggles against the chauvinism amongst other painters in her day. Also gave interesting details of the first generation Abstarct Expressionist painters and their interactions.
August 30, 2011
enjoyable for the personal info gained first hand.
March 4, 2016
So excited to find this book with such excellent reviews. But it is nothing more than one fact after another. Unreadable.
January 26, 2020
Wow, wow, wow. A beautifully rich, and complex historical profile of the indomitable Lee Krasner. Dear reader, please note Krasner is my favorite abstract expressionist painter so this review will include gushing. Levin’s treatment of Krasner’s seventy plus years on this rock is masterful. Providing just enough of the details of Krasner’s everyday and the context of the broader social, political, and economic events shaping her life. A true righting of wrongful representations of Krasner we get to the bottom of her deep loyalty to Pollock (hello Scorpio feels) and her courageous drive to keep painting before, during, and far beyond his life/their relationship.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book I want to keep track of:
“She had an animal magnetism, an energy, a kind of arrogance that commands...an energy that makes the waves happen.” (122 Lillian Olinsey speaking time how she helped Krasner get a scholarship to study at the Hoffman School)
Krasner was deeply influenced by Arthur Rimbaud’s “A Season in Hell” she put his following quote on her studio wall in 1939 in black except for the second to last question in blue - “To whom shall I hire myself out? What beast must one adore? What holy image attack? What hearts shall I break? What lie must I maintain? In what blood must I walk?” (p138)
Krasner always had a systemic analysis of why women artists were not as highly regarded as men in an interview with Louise Elliott Rago in 1960 she said, “I do not think it is a question of Mary Cassat’s greatness. It’s like asking when were women permitted to give up their veils? I believe this is a problem for the sociologist or the anthropologist. We are discussing a living problem and painting is one of the most complex phenomena today. There is undoubtably prejudice. When I am painting, and this is a heroic task, the question of male or female is irrelevant. Naturally I am a woman. I do not conceive of painting in a fragmented sense.” (p348)
At a solo show at the university of Alabama in 1967 she said the following, “it can never be said that painting is a man’s field; traditionally women have not produced great art but that is because of social views rather than any in-born ability. A woman must face prejudice in this field, and must be perhaps one and a half times as good as her male counterpart to gain recognition.” (p379)
Why she did not claim the identity of feminist artist Levin’s rendering of her life and attitudes firmly place her in both the space of receiving benefits from second wave feminism and as aligning herself in action with some major principles of feminism.
I know I have one more person to name in my fictional dinner party fantasy of hosting guests dead or alive. This biography helped me feel a deep kinship with this artist who just kept on, making art, and living especially when it was difficult.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book I want to keep track of:
“She had an animal magnetism, an energy, a kind of arrogance that commands...an energy that makes the waves happen.” (122 Lillian Olinsey speaking time how she helped Krasner get a scholarship to study at the Hoffman School)
Krasner was deeply influenced by Arthur Rimbaud’s “A Season in Hell” she put his following quote on her studio wall in 1939 in black except for the second to last question in blue - “To whom shall I hire myself out? What beast must one adore? What holy image attack? What hearts shall I break? What lie must I maintain? In what blood must I walk?” (p138)
Krasner always had a systemic analysis of why women artists were not as highly regarded as men in an interview with Louise Elliott Rago in 1960 she said, “I do not think it is a question of Mary Cassat’s greatness. It’s like asking when were women permitted to give up their veils? I believe this is a problem for the sociologist or the anthropologist. We are discussing a living problem and painting is one of the most complex phenomena today. There is undoubtably prejudice. When I am painting, and this is a heroic task, the question of male or female is irrelevant. Naturally I am a woman. I do not conceive of painting in a fragmented sense.” (p348)
At a solo show at the university of Alabama in 1967 she said the following, “it can never be said that painting is a man’s field; traditionally women have not produced great art but that is because of social views rather than any in-born ability. A woman must face prejudice in this field, and must be perhaps one and a half times as good as her male counterpart to gain recognition.” (p379)
Why she did not claim the identity of feminist artist Levin’s rendering of her life and attitudes firmly place her in both the space of receiving benefits from second wave feminism and as aligning herself in action with some major principles of feminism.
I know I have one more person to name in my fictional dinner party fantasy of hosting guests dead or alive. This biography helped me feel a deep kinship with this artist who just kept on, making art, and living especially when it was difficult.
June 14, 2022
Though I enjoyed learning about Lee Krasner and viewing the numerous black and white photographs in the book, I disliked the author’s tone and constant references to Krasner’s weight and appearance. Several Goodreads reviewers mentioned the same thing. Levin frequently refers to Krasner as being unattractive and opens the book by describing Krasner as ‘plump’ in her later years. Levin compares Krasner to her own grandmother, “Both Lee and my grandmother grew plump in late middle age…I never considered Lee ugly, as several of her contemporaries and some writers have emphasized since her death” (p 5). This was disturbing. I wondered, if the subject of this biography were male would Levin be emphasizing appearance over and again?
But it is obvious that Levin does in fact believe Kranser unattractive based on her writing throughout the book including this passage where Levin describes Krasner in middle age (after Pollock’s death) and her failed relationship with David Gibbs (artist), “She must have realized that she had lost her previous asset of a fabulous figure and that her facial features matched nobody’s idea of beauty” (p 379). Levin suggests by this passage, that the relationship failed because of Kraser’s appearance. How shallow and insulting. Furthermore there is no primary evidence (journals or letters) to tell us why the relationship failed (this is not the first time in the book where Levin makes significant assumptions on Krasner’s actions without back up). Levin’s speculation and focus yet again on appearance demonstrates her sloppy scholarship. It is also insulting to a talented woman like Krasner, as Levin also writes: “It seems she [Krasner] decided that she no longer wanted to compete with younger women” (p 379). I suggest to Ms. Levin that perhaps Krasner did not find a man worthy of her, or was unwilling to lower her standards.
The book is not worth reading for the reasons mentioned above. I do recommend Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel to readers looking to learn more about Krasner and the era she painted in. Ninth Street Women is excellent.
But it is obvious that Levin does in fact believe Kranser unattractive based on her writing throughout the book including this passage where Levin describes Krasner in middle age (after Pollock’s death) and her failed relationship with David Gibbs (artist), “She must have realized that she had lost her previous asset of a fabulous figure and that her facial features matched nobody’s idea of beauty” (p 379). Levin suggests by this passage, that the relationship failed because of Kraser’s appearance. How shallow and insulting. Furthermore there is no primary evidence (journals or letters) to tell us why the relationship failed (this is not the first time in the book where Levin makes significant assumptions on Krasner’s actions without back up). Levin’s speculation and focus yet again on appearance demonstrates her sloppy scholarship. It is also insulting to a talented woman like Krasner, as Levin also writes: “It seems she [Krasner] decided that she no longer wanted to compete with younger women” (p 379). I suggest to Ms. Levin that perhaps Krasner did not find a man worthy of her, or was unwilling to lower her standards.
The book is not worth reading for the reasons mentioned above. I do recommend Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel to readers looking to learn more about Krasner and the era she painted in. Ninth Street Women is excellent.
June 20, 2020
There is an article published in the Times Literary Supplement last year called "Slavery of being a girl" discussed the intensity during early Abstract Expressionism era and how sexism played in the art world in New York during 1950s.
"The Triumph of American Painting: The story of Abstract Expressionism (1970), included no single woman artist: not Joan Mitchell or Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan or Elaine de Kooning; not Lee Krasner either." - TLS
We know Lee Krasner as the painter, activist, and most commonly as the wife of famous artist Jackson Pollock. I enjoyed learning more about Krasner's childhood in the Jewish culture and her initial passion/drive to be a painter. As Pollock's career took off, Krasner directed her considerable energy and talents toward promoting his work while trying to keep up with his destructive alcoholism, cheating, and later on his sudden and tragic death.
However, I didn't particularly love or appreciate the way Levin wrote. She seems too hung up on the idea to force the readers to believe Krasner praises the feminist movement for finally getting a recognition in the art history world. I also found it quite disturbing she explicitly described and emphasized how "unattractive" Krasner's appearance was. I have to admit I skipped through some pages of this biography as it is extremely long and often times VERY repetitive (the dispute between Krasner and De Kooning was at least mentioned 6 times in different format throughout the book. OK! WE GET IT!!! )
I also was hoping to read more regarding the inspiration and background of Krasner's work which was not at all emphasized in the biography. I didn't feel like I learned an astonishing amount of information that I can't get from google and the overall writing aesthetic was mediocre.
In summary, it's an "audible 2x speed while you are home doing errand" type of book for me.
"The Triumph of American Painting: The story of Abstract Expressionism (1970), included no single woman artist: not Joan Mitchell or Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan or Elaine de Kooning; not Lee Krasner either." - TLS
We know Lee Krasner as the painter, activist, and most commonly as the wife of famous artist Jackson Pollock. I enjoyed learning more about Krasner's childhood in the Jewish culture and her initial passion/drive to be a painter. As Pollock's career took off, Krasner directed her considerable energy and talents toward promoting his work while trying to keep up with his destructive alcoholism, cheating, and later on his sudden and tragic death.
However, I didn't particularly love or appreciate the way Levin wrote. She seems too hung up on the idea to force the readers to believe Krasner praises the feminist movement for finally getting a recognition in the art history world. I also found it quite disturbing she explicitly described and emphasized how "unattractive" Krasner's appearance was. I have to admit I skipped through some pages of this biography as it is extremely long and often times VERY repetitive (the dispute between Krasner and De Kooning was at least mentioned 6 times in different format throughout the book. OK! WE GET IT!!! )
I also was hoping to read more regarding the inspiration and background of Krasner's work which was not at all emphasized in the biography. I didn't feel like I learned an astonishing amount of information that I can't get from google and the overall writing aesthetic was mediocre.
In summary, it's an "audible 2x speed while you are home doing errand" type of book for me.
February 15, 2025
Levin writes in the introduction that she knew Lee Krasner and formed a bond with her. Indeed her admiration shines through the biography, as does a scrappy defensiveness on Krasner’s behalf. What doesn’t shine through is Krasner herself. She remains remote, to be respected from afar as we are treated to an encyclopedic survey.
Everything we learn about Krasner comes at a remove. Instead of Levin showing us who Krasner was, we hear what “Krasner’s academy classmate Balcome Greene” recalls, what Krasner’s niece remembers. It becomes an oral history and the effect is of rather tedious reportage. Levin writes, “Many friends remarked on [Krasner’s] ‘animal energy,’ ‘voluptuousness,’ and ‘sex appeal,’ which is evident in some early photographs.” Effective biography requires the biographer to be bold enough to draw her own conclusions. Just tell us Krasner was sexy. (Also, there's an unusual emphasis on Krasner’s looks. Levin mentions it in the introduction and frequently includes quotes from others that refer to Krasner’s appearance.)
Information is often repeated — for example, Krasner’s involvement in her nieces’ and nephew’s lives, and a description of dyslexia. Anecdotes that lead nowhere get whole paragraphs. We’re given backstory on many of the squabbles that plagued the art world at the time. Yet events that seem significant, such as Krasner’s refusal to follow Jewish tradition and marry her sister’s widower, are given only a sentence or two.
I gather that Krasner was driven, sharp-tongued, fiercely protective and devoted to her art. She was also clearly a warm and inspiring mentor. I'd like to read a biography where I get to meet that Lee Krasner.
Everything we learn about Krasner comes at a remove. Instead of Levin showing us who Krasner was, we hear what “Krasner’s academy classmate Balcome Greene” recalls, what Krasner’s niece remembers. It becomes an oral history and the effect is of rather tedious reportage. Levin writes, “Many friends remarked on [Krasner’s] ‘animal energy,’ ‘voluptuousness,’ and ‘sex appeal,’ which is evident in some early photographs.” Effective biography requires the biographer to be bold enough to draw her own conclusions. Just tell us Krasner was sexy. (Also, there's an unusual emphasis on Krasner’s looks. Levin mentions it in the introduction and frequently includes quotes from others that refer to Krasner’s appearance.)
Information is often repeated — for example, Krasner’s involvement in her nieces’ and nephew’s lives, and a description of dyslexia. Anecdotes that lead nowhere get whole paragraphs. We’re given backstory on many of the squabbles that plagued the art world at the time. Yet events that seem significant, such as Krasner’s refusal to follow Jewish tradition and marry her sister’s widower, are given only a sentence or two.
I gather that Krasner was driven, sharp-tongued, fiercely protective and devoted to her art. She was also clearly a warm and inspiring mentor. I'd like to read a biography where I get to meet that Lee Krasner.
June 19, 2018
I was utterly fascinated by the first 100 pages of this book which told about Lee Krasner's early life and family, and how the Jewish culture she was from affected some of her thinking and attitudes. That part was excellent. After that I got bogged down with the subject of Communism and the people who taught, influenced, and worked along side her. The story picked up some when Jackson Pollack, who seemed to be a bundle of contradictions, entered her life and eventually became her husband. Much of Lee's life was a balancing act between being an artist and being an artist's wife. She was Pollack's chief supporter and it appears to be a true love story, despite Pollack's mental and alcohol problems. I read the book with my Art Book Club, and though I heard some others' opinions during the time we were reading, I was unable to attend the discussion. The club has decided to put aside biographies of artists right now in favor of books that emphasize the feeling of art instead of what artist did what thing on what date. I am glad I read the book, especially the beginning, even though great hunks of it was just soldiering through. I know my attitude was affected by the fact that I do not like the majority of Krasner's work, and I cannot find an appreciative artistic bone for any of Pollack's work. I do not understand the place accorded to Pollack in art history. I might not know anything about art, but I know what I like.
October 22, 2021
This biography got weird. First of all, there were way too many quotes. It was quote overkill. Excessive quotes that didn’t add any crucial knowledge about Krasner. Next, the author complained throughout the book that Krasner was judged by others for her looks. Towards the end of the book, she herself included a wildly offensive sentence about Krasner’s physical appearance - something to the effect of “she was so deeply unattractive” - so that was pretty shocking. Lastly, she recounted a feud between herself, Krasner, and another woman who attempted to write a dissertation on the artist. I’ve read a lot of biographies and never encountered this kind of admission of personal struggle between a biographer and her subject. That said, I did enjoy seeing several pages of color reproductions of Krasner’s artwork.
March 24, 2023
An eye-opening look into the life of one of modern art's most unjustly overlooked (still, somehow!) pioneers, Lee Krasner. Remembered in her lifetime mainly for being Jackson Pollock's widow, she was a strong, unique artist in her own right before even meeting him and remained so throughout her time with and without him. Some of her work, including her Little Images series and her collage of her previous work, Eleven Ways to Use the Words "To See" are among the most affecting and fascinating works I've come across. Krasner is a legend and a hard-ass Jewish woman who took no shit from anyone she couldn't get with. Bless her and bless Levin for helping to further her legacy with this wonderful biography.
March 6, 2021
Though I’m a bit skeptical about a biographer who befriends her subject, Gail Levin makes a convincing case that it’s Lee Krasner, artist and not Lee krasner, wife and widow. . .that we should most pay attention to. I would also add that the very same personality traits that some criticized are the very same traits that Krasner used to make her way up in the art world. Lots of interesting and useful information. (Next, I might try reading Levin’s work on Edward Hopper.)
October 26, 2024
This book is about a woman who had an undying belief in her art and Jackson’s. She wouldn’t settle for anything else than what it deserved. She kept making art and growing as an artist through the depression and two World Wars. Such an inspiration to me as a painter!
“There are elements of nature in my work,” she said, “but not in the sense of birds and trees and water.
When I say nature I might mean energy, motion, everything that’s happening in and around me. That’s what I mean by nature.”
“There are elements of nature in my work,” she said, “but not in the sense of birds and trees and water.
When I say nature I might mean energy, motion, everything that’s happening in and around me. That’s what I mean by nature.”
March 21, 2020
Gail Levin's biography of this important, 20th-century, American artist is exhaustive. I agree with other reviewers that the book could have been a little tighter for general reading; I wish it had a better pacing. Levin chronicles American social history of the 20th century in a way that is useful to research outside the biography of the artist.
dnf
September 13, 2022Levin has written a truly exhaustive bio of Krasner, but at a certain point the wealth of details becomes simply exhausting. Of course Krasner's bio should discuss training, other artists (de Kooning, Gorky, Motherwell, etc.), shows, etc. But it can be hard to sift out what's really important.
If I were doing academic research on Krasner, I'd be all over this. But I gave up at the midpoint.
If I were doing academic research on Krasner, I'd be all over this. But I gave up at the midpoint.
January 14, 2025
A complete biography of this important artist--finally recognized for her contribution to modern art, particularly abstract expressionism. Overshadowed by her husband, Jackson Pollack, she was side-lined for much of her life. Fortunately before her death, she was recognized for the important role she
played.
This biography recounts her family history as well as her artistic journey.
played.
This biography recounts her family history as well as her artistic journey.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews