by Gail Levin
48. 1952-Warner, 101.
49. 1952-Rosenberg, 22.
50. JPCR, vol. 4, 271, D107, letter of October 20, 1952, Sidney Janis to JP.
51. 1972-Gruen, 238.
52. Langer-1981.
53. Cynthia Navaretta to the author, 3-5-2010.
54. Cynthia Navaretta to the author, 3-5-2010.
55. See chapter 17: LK certainly believed that the stories of JP’s affairs were true. 1989-Naifeh, 211, dismissed rumors and claims by JP that he had slept with Rita Benton, who later told Gene Thaw that she initiated the young JP (author’s interview with Thaw, 4-1-2010). Rita’s conversation with Thaw took place in Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard after Thomas Hart Benton’s death in 1975.
56. Cynthia Navaretta to the author, interview of 3-5-2010, recalled that George McNeil’s wife, Dora, who was the head designer at Simplicity Patterns and the mother of two young children, found out about her husband’s affair with Mercedes. Her other affairs are documented in many published sources. On Mercedes’s “playing the field though married” sex life, see Ellen G. Landau, “To Be an Artist Is to Embrace the World in One Kiss,” in Mercedes Matter (New York: Mark Borghi, 2009), 75, note 104.
57. For a description of this behavior, see Gail Levin, Becoming Judy Chicago, 111–12.
58. See journal pages at Getty, box 57, folder 3. This journal is dateable because he noted “Wednesday Memorial Day” on May 30, which was on a Wednesday in 1951.
59. Harold Rosenberg journal for May 29 and 30, 1951, Getty.
60. Harold Rosenberg journal for June 16, Getty.
61. Paul Brach discussed JP and Rosenberg and told stories of the abstract expressionists with the author in many conversations. 1989-Naifeh, 706, missed the larger implications in what Brach intuited about Rosenberg’s motive. Matter used her closeness to and admiration for JP to provoke Rosenberg’s jealousy.
62. Harold Rosenberg, journal for Wednesday, June 6, 1951, written on page printed for June 8, Getty.
63. Harold Rosenberg, journal for Thursday, June 7, 1951, written on page printed for June 8, Getty.
64. 2004-Stevens, 576.
65. 2004-Stevens, 346.
66. LK to the author, countless times in conversation.
67. Their open marriage is well documented in 2004-Stevens and in 1993-Hall. LK to the author.
68. The young boy in the photograph, who is much too young to be Greenberg’s son from his first failed marriage, is probably the child of the unknown photographer.
69. Morris Louis to James McG. Truitt, “Art-Arid D.C. Harbors Touted ‘New’ Painters,” Washington Post, December 21, 1961, A20. The interviewer was then married to artist Anne Truitt, a friend of both Greenberg and Louis.
70. Sidney Janis quoted in 1972-Gruen, 247.
71. Clement Greenberg to James Valliere, unpublished interview, March 1968, noted in 1987-Solomon, 236.
72. Howard Devree, “Ingres to Pollock,” NYT, November 15, 1952, X9.
73. Clement Greenberg, “Jackson Pollock,” quoted in 1997-Rubenfeld, 163. The show took place November 17–30, 1952.
74. 1997-Rubenfeld, 164.
75. 1997-Rubenfeld, 164.
76. Freas to Brenson, December 11, 2001.
77. Freas to Brenson, December 11, 2001.
78. Jean Freas to Michael Brenson, interview, December 11, 2001. As Jean Pond, she published a memoir, Surviving (New York: Farrar, Staus & Giroux, 1978).
79. After her divorce from David Smith, Jean Freas Smith worked as a TV reporter in Washington, D.C. She left television in 1969 and moved to NYC after marrying NBC on-air reporter Geoffrey Pond, from whom she was later divorced.
80. Freas to Brenson, December 11, 2001.
81. Freas to Brenson, December 11, 2001.
82. Freas to Brenson, December 11, 2001.
83. Clement Greenberg, “Jackson Pollock,” quoted in 1997-Rubenfeld, 163.
84. Clement Greenberg, “Jackson Pollock,” quoted in 1997-Rubenfeld, 163.
85. Clement Greenberg to Don Casto, letter of February 14, 1964, in response to Casto’s questions, CG papers, Getty.
86. 1987-Soloman, 237.
87. Copy in LKP, AAA, roll 3777, frames 99–105.
88. 1979-Novak.
89. 1952-Rosenberg, 22.
90. 1952-Rosenberg, 23.
91. 1952-Rosenberg, 23.
92. 1952-Rosenberg, 48.
93. 1952-Rosenberg, 49.
94. 1985-Potter, 169.
95. Harold Rosenberg, “Painting Is a Way of Living,” The New Yorker, February 1, 1963; reprinted as “De Kooning: 1. Painting Is a Way,” in Harold Rosenberg, The Anxious Object Art Today and Its Audience (New York: Horizon Press, 1966), 90.
96. Clement Greenberg to Don Casto, letter of February 14, 1964, in response to Casto’s questions, CG papers, Getty.
Chapter 13: Coming Apart, 1953–56 (pp. 289–314)
1. 1987-Solomon, 238, East Hampton town police records.
2. LK to the author, many times in conversation.
3. Helen Gribetz to the author, 10-25-2010.
4. 1980-Slobodkina, vol. II, p. 365.
5. 1980-Braff. The following quotation is also from this source.
6. Stuart Preston, “A Melange of Summer Shows,” NYT, August 2, 1953, X7.
7. Stuart Preston, “A Melange of Summer Shows,” NYT, August 2, 1953, X7.
8. JPCR, vol. 4, 271, D109, letter of November 24, 1953, JP to Sidney Janis.
9. Clement Greenberg, “‘American-Type’ Painting,” in 1993-Greenberg, 226.
10. Jackson Pollock quoted in 1985-Potter, 198.
11. 1985-Potter, 198.
12. 1985-Potter, 199.
13. Gertrude Sartain, “You and Your Car,” Independent Woman, 18, May 1939, 134–35.
14. 1985-Potter, 201.
15. Peter Matthiessen to the author, March 24, 2010.
16. Clement Greenberg, “Jackson Pollock,” quoted in 1997-Rubenfeld, 195.
17. Clement Greenberg, “Jackson Pollock,” quoted in 1997-Rubenfeld, 195.
18. 2006-Marquis, 142–46; 1997-Rubenfeld, 194 and 316, n. 26. In a 1990 interview with Rubenfeld, Greenberg insisted he sent Krasner to Klein, 1989-Naifch 747, interviewed Pearce and says Greenberg sent Krasner to her.
19. 2006-Marquis, 144–46. I am referring only to the “Sullivanians,” such as Pearce, Newton, and Klein—not the William Alanson White Institute.
20. Jane Pearce and Saul Newton, Conditions of Human Growth (New York: Citadel Press, 1963). See also 1986-Conason, 21.
21. 1987-Siegel, 278.
22. 1987-Siegel, 278.
23. Bonnie Bernstein, widow of Len Siegel, to the author, letter of 5-30-2010, is the source for his career and training. Len Siegel immigrated to Australia in July 1983. It is possible that he wanted to distance himself from the Sullivanians. See 1989-Hoban, 41–53; 1986-Conason, 19–26; David Black, “Totalitarian Therapy on the Upper West Side,” New York, December 15, 1975, 54–67; 2003-Siskind.
24. 99-Friedman, 16.
25. Despite this, 1999-Hobbs, 116–17, has written at length about the impact of the ideas of Harry Stack Sullivan on LK, apparently unaware of Siegel’s involvement with the Sullivanians or that they became a cult, some of whom were forced to surrender their licenses to practice in New York State. Nor do we know the exact duration of LK’s therapy with Siegel. 1980-Cavaliere, 16, LK responded to a question about combining past and present in reworking some of her unresolved canvases: “I’m not in analysis, so I can’t handle it analytically.” See also chapters 14 and 15 for discussion of Krasner’s interaction with Siegel.
26. Frances Patiky Stein to the author, interview, January 2008.
27. Cile Downs, interview with the author, 3-2-2010.
28. 1990-Greenberg.
29. 1990-Greenberg.
30. 1975-Nemser-1, 96.
31. 1979-Novak.
32. Ralph Klein to Jeffrey Potter, 5-18-82, recorded interview, PKHSC.
33. Ben Heller to the auth
or, 11-10-210.
34. See 2003-Siskind, 57, 61, etc., and 1989-Hoban, 41–53. Pearce was divorced from Newton and forced out by him and his next wife.
35. 1985-Potter, 232.
36. Judy Collins, Singing Lessons: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing (New York: Atria, 1998), 123, 135.
37. 1998-Collins, 141.
38. 1985-Potter, 265.
39. Patsy Southgate to Andrea Gabor, taped interview of 9-25-91.
40. Order by N.Y. State for suspension of license to practice as a psychologist, July 26, 1991, no. 10402, “professional misconduct” cited. See press release of the University of the State of New York, State Education Department, 6-26-91; see “In the Courts: Sullivanians Lose Licenses,” Cult Observer, vol. 8, no. 7, 1991. See also Tamara Lewin, “Custody Case Lifts Veil on a ‘Psychotherapy Cult,’” NYT, June 3, 1988 and Susan Reed, “Two Anxious Fathers Battle a Therapy ‘Cult’ for Their Kids,” People, vol. 30, no. 4, July 25, 1988.
41. LKP, AAA, roll 3774, frames 678–79.
42. LK in conversation with the audience after a showing of Barbara Rose’s film, Lee Krasner: The Long View, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Roslyn, New York, 1979.
43. Cile Downs to the author, interview of 8-21-2007.
44. Cile Downs to the author, 7-04-2008.
45. Cile Downs to the author, interview of 8-21-2007.
46. 1985-Potter, 175. Ironically, Stein also drank to excess.
47. 1979-Munro, 101.
48. 1979-Munro, 114.
49. Stuart Preston, “Modern Work in Diverse Shows,” NYT, October 2, 1955, X15.
50. F.P. [Fairfield Porter], “Lee Krasner,” Art News, November 1955, 66. My copy labeled by Krasner when she gave it to me.
51. Martica Sawin, “Lee Krasner,” Arts, October 1955, 52, my copy labeled by Krasner herself when she gave it to me.
52. 1971-Groh, frame 983.
53. 1985-Potter, 202.
54. 1971-Groh.
55. Eleanor Ward to Wilfrid Zogbaum, October 14, 1957, 1996-Wagner, note 44, 310–11.
56. Wilfrid Zogbaum to Eleanor Ward, November 7, 1957, quoted in 1996-Wagner, note 44, 311.
57. 1985-Potter, 174.
58. 1985-Potter, 275.
59. 1985-Potter, 174.
60. Dan T. Miller to James T. Valliere, in 2000-Harrison, 233.
61. See 1985-Potter, 188–89.
62. JPCR, 273.
63. 1985-Potter, 215.
64. Cile Downs to the author, 07-04-2008.
65. JPCR, vol. 4, 275.
66. Paul Jenkins interview with the author, 6-26-2008.
67. Paul Jenkins interview with the author, 6-26-2008.
68. Jenkins in 2000-Harrison, 278.
69. Jenkins in 2000-Harrison, 278.
70. Paul Jenkins to Jackson & Lee, letter of April 17, 1956, PKHSC, left in the gift book Zen in the Art of Archery.
71. LKP, AAA, roll 3774, frame 686.
72. 1978-Howard.
73. 1978-Howard.
74. Related by Krasner, 1979-Munro, 116.
75. 1964-Seckler.
76. 1957-Rodman, 275.
77. Charlotte Park, diary entry for June 18, 1956, quoted in 2001-Abeles, 186.
78. 1985-Potter, 210, and author’s interviews with Flack, 9-4-2010 and earlier.
79. 1985-Potter, 228. JPCR describes Kligman as “a fashion model,” but she was then working as an assistant in a small art gallery. See also Will Blythe, “The End of the Affair,” in 2000-Harrison, 289.
80. Audrey Flack to the author, 9-4-2010.
81. Abby Friedman quoted in 1985-Potter, 234.
82. 1985-Potter, 230–31.
83. 1985-Potter, 230–31.
84. 1973-Friedman, 33, and 1995-Friedman, 232.
85. 1995-Friedman, 232.
86. 1974-Kligman.
87. 1974-Kligman, 73 and again on 138.
88. 1985-Potter, 236.
89. Charlotte Brooks and Cile Downs, quoted in 1985-Potter, 233–34.
90. Paul Jenkins, “Excerpts of a Symposium,” 1986, in 2000-Harrison, 280.
91. 1977-Rose-1.
92. JPCR, 276.
93. 1964-Seckler.
94. Listed by 1965-Friedman, 11, who cites the Uccello in the National Gallery, London, instead of that in the Louvre.
95. 1968-Wasserman.
96. 2006-Marquis, 141, states that the relationship with Frankenthaler ended definitively on April 10, 1955, but Frankenthaler’s presence where Krasner was hints of Greenberg’s continuing link to Frankenthaler.
97. Kay Gimpel to Peggy Guggenheim, letter of July 26, 1956, AAA.
98. Lee Krasner to Esther and Paul Jenkins, postcard dated July 30, 1956, Paul Jenkins Papers, AAA.
99. 1977-Rose-1.
100. Paul Jenkins interview with the author, 6-26-2008.
101. 1977-Rose-1.
102. “8 Killed in 2 L.I. Auto Crashes; Jackson Pollock among Victims,” NYT, August 12, 1956, 1.
103. “8 Killed in 2 L.I. Auto Crashes; Jackson Pollock among Victims,” NYT, August 12, 1956, 1.
104. 2006-Rose, n.p., note 34.
105. Clement Greenberg to John Gruen, quotation from interview, in draft of Gruen’s book (sent 12-3-70), Clement Greenberg Papers, Getty.
106. 1985-Potter, 174. The words in italics are what Greenberg claims he said as opposed to what Jeffrey Potter quoted him as having said in his book of interviews. Greenberg took such issue with how Potter quoted him that when the statement was repeated in an Art Monthly article by Francis Frascina entitled “Krasner & Pollock,” he protested in a letter to the editor to correct the record: “Mr. Frascina writes of Lee Krasner & me that ‘neither liked each other much…’ How does he know? It’s quite untrue.” Greenberg goes on to correct the text of his interview that appeared in Jeffrey Potter, To a Violent Grave, 1985.
107. 1985-Potter, 169.
108. Judy Collins to the author, 9-22-2010.
Chapter 14: Dual Identities: Artist and Widow, 1956–59 (pp. 315–338)
1. 1985-Potter, 174.
2. 1973-Wallach-2.
3. 1985-Potter, 174.
4. 2001-Abeles, 188.
5. Jeanne Lawson Bultman to the author, interview of 4-23-2007.
6. 1999-Friedman, 13.
7. Chronologies of Motherwell claim that he met Frankenthaler in 1957, but Friedman’s journal entry suggests that they could have met by New Year’s Eve 1956. Friedman to the author recalls that the party may have been at the home of Manoucher Yektai.
8. 1973-Barkas, 35.
9. 1979-Munro, 116.
10. Over the years she recruited people to sleep over at the Springs house so that she would not be there alone. Some were Patsy Southgate, Peter Matthiessen (interview with the author, 3-24-2010), and Abigail Little (the daughter of her good friends John and Josephine Little); Abigail Little Tooker to the author, interview of January 14, 2010. Another was Jill Jakes (interview with the author, January 15, 2010), then a recent Vassar graduate who then did some secretarial work for LK, before becoming a lawyer and a judge.
11. Sidney Janis quoted in Les Levine, “A Portrait of Sidney Janis on the Occasion of His 25th Anniversary as an Art Dealer,” Arts Magazine, 48, November 1973, 53.
12. 1985-Potter, 196, Robert Beverly Hale, curator at the Metropolitan, reported this price.
13. 1985-Potter, 272. Janis held a show of Pollock’s drawings in November 1957 and a show of his paintings in November 1958.
14. 1981-Langer.
15. Buffie Johnson to Barbara Shikler, interview of November 13, 1982, AAA.
16. 1967-Seckler.
17. 1960-Rago, 32.
18. Henri Matisse exh. cat. (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951), 10. Clement Greenberg, Matisse (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1953), n.p.
19. See Tetsuya Oshima, The Figure Reemerging: Jackson Pollock’s Cut-Outs, 1948–1956 (New York: Doctoral Dissertation, The Graduate Center of The City University of New York, 2008), 108.
20. Pollock had
even spoken to Patsy Southgate about wanting to keep both women, literally a menage à trois
21. See Joan Marter, “Identity Crisis: Abstract Expressionism and Women Artists of the 1950s,” in Women and Abstract Expressionism, 1945–1959 (New York: Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, 1997).
22. 1981-Delatiner.
23. AAA-LKP; 1983-Rose, 98.
24. ‘Signa Gallery Opens with Distinguished Guests,” East Hampton Star, July 25, 1957, 1.
25. This was the gallery’s third exhibition. Krasner later painted over Spring Beat so that it is no longer extant to view. See LKCR, CR315, 166.
26. Georgio Cavallon and Linda Lindeberg, letter of 8-8-57, LKP, AAA, roll 3771, frames 487–88.
27. George Dondero, “Modern Art Shackled to Communism,” Congressional Record, 81st Congress, 1st session (1949), vol. 95, pt. 9: 11584-5, as quoted in 1999-Craven, 97.
28. Her file is no. 65-64976.
29. 1999-Craven, 83.
30. “Martha Jackson Dies on Coast; Gallery Aided Abstract Artists,” NYT, July 5, 1969, 19.
31. Ben Heller to the author, 11-10-2010.
32. See LK papers, AAA, reel 3776, frame 571. “Lee Krasner—Recent Oils,” press release from Martha Jackson Gallery, lists the date of her marriage to Pollock incorrectly as 1944.
33. B. H. Friedman, “Introduction,” Lee Krasner (New York: Martha Jackson Gallery, 1958), n.p.
34. 1999-Friedman, 16.
35. 1978-Howard.
36. Ms. labeled “FINAL COPY SENT to [Sarah Campbell Blaffer] Foundation for Printing in catalogue, 1/19/79,” LKP, AAA, roll 3773, frame 171.
37. Ms. labeled “FINAL COPY SENT to [Sarah Campbell Blaffer] Foundation for Printing in catalogue, 1/19/79,” LKP, AAA, roll 3773, frame 171.
38. Stuart Preston, “The Week’s Variety,” NYT, May 2, 1958, X9.
39. 1958-Time.
40. 1958-Time.
41. A.V. [Anita Ventura], “Lee Krasner,” Arts Magazine, April 1958, 60.
42. A.V. [Anita Ventura], “Lee Krasner,” Arts Magazine, April 1958, 60.
43. A.V. [Anita Ventura], “Lee Krasner,” Arts Magazine, April 1958, 60.
44. P.T. [Parker Tyler], “Lee Krasner,” Art News, April 1958, 15, photocopy labeled in LK’s hand and given to the author by the artist.
45. 1968-Glueck.
46. 1972-Holmes.
47. “The Jackson Pollocks’ Work Shown Here, Abroad,” East Hampton Star, 1958, 4, LKP, AAA, reel 3780, frame 398.