by Gail Levin
personal traits of, 173, 251, 252, 260
and success, 205, 210, 238, 262, 264, 269–70, 275, 280, 283, 286, 287, 306, 359
talent of, 96, 168, 171, 196, 208, 214, 288, 373, 404, 436
unable to paint, 291–92, 300, 303, 306
will written by, 271–72
Pollock, Jackson, work of:
artistic influences on, 4, 104, 363, 384, 400
Autumn Rhythm, 267, 317
Bird Effort, 246
Birth, 178
Blue Poles, 347, 443
The Blue Unconscious, 246
catalogue raisonné of, 417, 451
The Child Proceeds, 236
Circumcision, 236
Constellation, 246
counterfeits, 417
critical reviews of, 201, 221, 259, 261, 267–68, 276, 284, 291, 292, 379
Croaking Movement, 246
The Dancers, 246
dripping technique, 105–6, 243, 250
Earthworms, 246
in exhibitions, 7, 165, 166, 200, 208–9, 219, 220, 240, 246, 250, 257, 258–59, 261, 267, 272, 276, 283–84, 291–92, 370, 378–79, 417–18, 439
Eyes in the Heat, 246
Galaxy, 237
Grey Center, 246
Guardians of the Secret, 207, 233, 262
High Priestess, 236
international market for, 356–57, 360, 376, 443
The Key, 240, 246
Lavender Mist, 267
The Little King, 236–37
Magic Light, 246
The Magic Mirror, 168
Mural, 197, 246
Number 5, 256
Number 17, 317
Number Two, 264
Ocean Greyness, 294, 325
One, 267
Pasiphae, 212
Portrait and a Dream, 289, 398
prices of, 317–18, 336, 344, 346, 357, 359, 362, 372, 382, 417, 442, 443
The She-Wolf, 205, 212
Shimmering Substance, 246
Something of the Past, 246
Stenographic Figure, 200–201
The Teacup, 246
There Were Seven in Eight, 319
Troubled Queen, 236, 237
Two, 319
The Water Bull, 246
Water Figure, 236
The White Angel, 236
Yellow Triangle, 246
Pollock, LeRoy McCoy (father), 169
Pollock, Marvin Jay (brother), 173, 240, 267, 272
Pollock, Sanford (brother), see McCoy, Sande
Pollock, Stella (mother), 190–91, 192, 202–3, 211, 213, 248, 249, 257, 258, 303
Pollock (film), 1
Pollock-Krasner Foundation, 450
Poor, Henry Varnum, 116
Porter, Fairfield, 301
Potter, Jeffrey, 265, 266, 288, 292, 299, 449
Pousette-Dart, Richard, 10, 220, 423, 424
Preston, Stuart, 258–59, 261, 274, 291, 301, 324, 351
Pringle, Ann, 254
Provincetown, artist colony at, 134, 135, 147, 213–14, 227, 241
Purdy, H. Levitt, 165, 166
Putzel, Howard, 200–201, 207, 208, 211, 213, 216, 219, 220–21, 229, 253
Pyle, Howard, 228
Rago, Louise Elliott, 349
Rand, Harry, 418, 423–24, 428, 431
Rattner, Abraham, 224
Rauschenberg, Robert, 370
Ray, Man, 89, 113
Raynor, Vivien, 351–52, 360
Read, Herbert, 200–201
Rebay, Baroness Hilla, 6, 188, 202
Redon, Odilon, 101
Reed, Alma, 104
Reed, John, 85
Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 387, 388
Reeves, Ruth, 155
Refregier, Anton, 88, 155, 181, 187
Reinhardt, Ad, 144, 238–39, 368, 381
René, Jean, 136
Resnick, Milton, 104, 348, 381
Reynal, Jeanne, 392, 395
Rhodes, Sissy (Adelaide), 26
Richard, Paul, 403
Riley, Bridget, 370
Rimbaud, Arthur, 138–39, 162, 172, 174, 218, 350, 353, 379
Robert Miller Gallery, New York City, 438
Robertson, Bryan, 5, 8–9, 341, 344, 354–55, 370–71, 380, 411
Robinson, William S., 66
Rockefeller, Abby Aldrich, 66
Rodgers, Gaby, 2, 407
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 86, 133, 152, 188
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 82, 86, 121, 189
Rosati, James, 328
Rose, Barbara, 7, 10, 185, 336, 365, 389, 391, 396, 397–98, 399, 407, 409–10, 415–16, 418–19, 423–24, 430, 431, 435, 436, 441, 442, 444, 445, 448, 449
Rosenberg, Alex, 404
Rosenberg, Dave, 77
Rosenberg, Harold, 76–77, 84, 87, 90–91, 92, 97, 98–99, 114, 116, 128, 139, 231, 361, 379, 381–82, 385, 394, 398, 405
and action painting, 278–79, 287–88, 354–55
journal of, 280–82
Rosenberg, May Tabak, 70, 77, 90–91, 93, 98, 99, 231, 232, 281, 361, 394, 405
Rosenquist, James, 407
Rothenstein, Sir John, 356
Rothko, Mark, 205, 220, 258, 322, 350, 363, 370, 406, 419
Rouault, Georges, 165, 178
Rubenfeld, Florence, 333–35
Rubin, William, 379, 423–24, 428, 429
Russell, John, 374, 432
Russell, Morgan, 83
Russia, refugees from, 14–16, 21, 61, 62, 100
Russo, Alex, 365
Ryan, Anne, 273–74, 392
Sage, Kay, 224
Samaras, Lucas, 407
Sam Johnson’s nightclub, 75–77, 84, 90
Samuels, Spencer, 332
Sander, Ludwig, 368
Sanders, Joop, 59, 80, 142
Sandler, Irving H., 5, 352, 359–60, 410, 446
Sawin, Martica, 301
Schaefer, Bertha, 253, 254, 255
Schanker, Louis, 148
Schapiro, Meyer, 114, 218, 370
Schapiro, Miriam, 390, 391, 395, 400, 406, 414
Schardt, Bernard, 177
Schary, Saul, 199–200
Schellinger, William, 257
Schilling, Marge, 405–6
Schnakenberg, H. E., 116
Schneemann, Carolee, 406
Schöngauer, Martin, 223–24
School of Paris, 7, 115, 145–46, 185–86, 413
Schopenhauer, Arthur, 36, 68
Schwartz, Delmore, 138, 139, 353
Schwartz, Nancy, 376
Schwitters, Kurt, 274, 414
Scott, Hazel, 180, 181
Sekula, Sonja, 250
Seliger, Charles, 220
Seliger, Robert V., 247
Semmel, Joan, 406
Shaw, Charles, 239
Shpikov, Russia, 13, 14, 15, 18, 52
Siden, Frank, 369
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York City, 259, 279, 283, 284, 287, 353, 417, Siegel, Leonard Israel, 295–97, 299, 350, 403
Signa Gallery, East Hampton, 321, 326–27, 336, 348
Silva, Vieira de, 392
Siqueiros, David Alfaro, 103, 104–6, 109, 186
Slatkin, Wendy, 421
Slivka, David, 226–27, 247, 327
Sloan, John, 72, 164
Slobodkina, Esphyr (Esther), 54, 56, 62–63, 69, 97, 184, 239, 290
Lee Krasner Astride a Fighting Cock, 93, 195
Smith, David, 284–85, 328
Smith, Gregory White, 441
Smith, Griffin, 402
Smith, Tony, 238, 269
Snyder, C. B. J., 37
Sobel, Janet, 243
Soby, James, 201, 226
Socialist Party, 105, 111, 112
Society of Independent Artists, 84–85
Soglow, Otto, 236, 237
Solman, Joe, 114
Solomon, Deborah, 441, 448
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 294, 437, 447
Sontag, Susan, 451
Southgate, Patsy, 1, 292, 293, 298, 299, 307, 313,
326, 334, 434, 449
Soyer, Isaac, 121
Soyer, Raphael, 106, 124, 258
Spanish Civil War, 111–12, 118, 149
Speyer, Darthea, 311
Spivak, Max, 73, 86, 88, 96, 97–98, 100, 113, 114
Stable Gallery, New York, 290, 300–302, 414
Stamos, Theodoros, 321, 368
Stavenitz, Alix, 90
Steffens, Lincoln, 108
Steig, William, 166
Stein, Bernice, 31, 50, 64, 79, 80
Stein, Frances Patiky, 296, 360, 386
Stein, Morris, 63
Stein, Muriel Pearl, 31, 50, 64, 79, 80
Stein, Ronald, 1, 64, 79, 80, 96, 231, 300, 329–30, 360, 361, 384, 406, 435, 439, 440, 449–50
Stein, Rose Krasner, 31, 50
Stein, Ruth Krasner, 1, 50, 63–64, 448
Stein, William, 50, 63–64
Steinberg, Saul, 225
Stella, Joseph, 121
Sterne, Hedda, 225, 260, 263, 368, 385, 391, 406
Stevens, Mark, 282, 447
Stewart, Christopher, 367, 368
Stieglitz, Alfred, 125
Stiglitze, Baron Aleksander, 61
Still, Clyfford, 269, 276, 287, 340, 368, 394
Stone, Edward Durell, 254
Stony Brook Foundation, 427–28
Stutz, Geraldine, 375, 403
Sullivan, Mrs. Cornelius J., 66
Sullivan, Harry Stack, 295, 296–97
Sullivan, Mary J. Quinn, 246
Sullivanians, 295–99, 332
Suzuki, Daisetz T., 278
Swan, Annalyn, 282
Sweeney, James Johnson, 189, 201, 202, 208–9, 211, 212, 216, 226, 251
Sweeney, Laura, 218
Sykes, Gerald, 261
Tacha, Athena, 421
Taeuber-Arp, Sophie, 393
Tallmer, Jerry, 410, 432–33
Tamayo, Rufino, 220
Tango, Jenny, 414
Tanguy, Yves, 225
Tanning, Dorothea, 224, 229, 259, 392
Tapié, Michel, 326, 336–37
Tàpies, Antoni, 322
Tate Gallery, London, 4, 438
Tatlin, Vladimir, 100
Taylor, Francis Henry, 262
Taylor, Joshua, 418, 428
Taylor, Robert, 403
Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, 88, 96
Tenke, Lois, 358
Tenshin, Okakura, 278
Thaw, Clare, 449
Thaw, Eugene V., 2, 280, 400, 417, 431, 441, 449, 451
Theodor, Pan, 56
Thompson, Clara M., 296
Time, 265, 266
Tingley, Iowa, 169
Tobey, Mark, 205, 243, 267, 374
Tomlin, Bradley Walker, 244–45, 261, 419
Traphagen, Ethel, 44
Trotsky, Leon, 108–10
Trotskyism, 110, 111, 144
Trubach, Serge, 118–20, 194
Tsarskoe Selo, Russia, 59
Tschacbasov, Nahum, 121
Tuchman, Maurice, 367
Tucker, Marcia, 245, 398, 399–400
Tufts, Eleanor, 421
Twombley, Cy, 382
Tworkov, Jack, 368
Tyler, Parker, 77, 325
Tzionglinsky, Ian F., 61
Uccello, Paolo, 310
University of Alabama, 377–78
University of North Dakota, 395–96
Updike, John, Seek My Face, 1
Uris Brothers, 329–30, 371, 403
Vail, Laurence, 225
Valadon, Suzanne, 393
Valentine Gallery, New York, 115, 135, 165, 179
Valliere, James T., 363
Vanderbilt, Mrs. Frederick W., 42
Venice Biennale, 261, 265
Ventura, Anita, 325
Vetrocq, Marcia, 445–46
Vicente, Esteban, 368, 385, 397, 449
Vicente, Harriet, 449
Viggo, Princess, née Eleanor Green, 42
Vogel, Joseph, 70–71, 73, 112
Vonnoh, Robert, 65
Von Wicht, John, 148
Wallach, Amei, 399, 415
Walrath, Philip L., 29, 365
Ward, Eleanor, 300, 301–2, 305
Ward, Joan, 327
Warhol, Andy, 447
Warner, Langdon, 278, 279
Washington Irving High School, New York, 29, 33–34, 36–40
Wasserman, Emily, 383
Watson, Forbes, 72
Weber, Max, 72, 391
Weegee (Arthur Fellig), 145
Weinstock, Clarence, 114
Weir, J. Alden, 65
Weisberg, Ruth, 421
Weiss, William, 14, 21
Whipple, Enez, 258, 449
Whitechapel Gallery, London, 5, 370–75, 377, 383, 389, 411
Whitney Museum of American Art, 116, 154, 434
“Abstract Expressionism: The Formative Years,” 7, 416–17, 419, 421–22, 423, 433
founding of, 72–73
“Lee Krasner: Large Paintings,” 398–400, 416
Wiegand, Charmion von, 104, 182
Wildenstein, Daniel, 420
Williams, Margaret, 26
Williams, Sheldon, 374
Williams, Tennessee, 174
Wilson, Jane, 319–20
Wilson, William, 445
Winterbotham, Joseph, 68
Wise, Howard, 343, 347–48, 351, 359, 362, 365, 420
Wittenborn, Betsy, 358
women:
feminists, 5, 45–46, 383, 384, 390–93, 395, 397, 400–401, 406, 407–8, 410–11, 414, 421–22, 425, 444–45
flappers, 45, 62
and husbands’ identity, 261, 263–64, 378
ignored in art history, 3, 5, 199, 244, 276, 367–68, 389–95, 409–11, 416
Jewish, roles of, 18, 32, 36, 68, 364, 422
suffrage movement, 26–27, 410
as “the wives,” 199, 217, 260, 378, 382, 400
and WPA, 95, 99, 390
World’s Fair (1939–40), 149, 152, 175
World War II, 145, 149, 160, 183, 205, 222
WPA (Works Progress Administration), 3, 38, 73, 86–87, 105, 120–21, 390
artist payments by, 114, 118, 159
hiring and firing by, 117–20, 132, 159, 198
Krasner’s work with, 93–97, 106–8, 118, 130–33, 136, 147–49, 159, 175, 189–90, 250
Mural Project, 129–30, 132–33, 147–49, 175
Public Works of Art Project, 87–88, 99
War Services Project, 189–90, 194
Wyeth, Andrew, 398
Xceron, John [Jean], 184, 194, 195
Yaddo artists’ colony, 90
Yeargens, J., 114
Zen, 278, 288, 305
Zimmer, William, 414
Zinsser, William K., 362
Zogbaum, Betsy, 168, 266
Zogbaum, Wilfrid, 135, 236, 252, 258, 261, 266, 291, 302
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I AM GRATEFUL TO THE POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION AND THE Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center for supporting this project with a fellowship that not only enabled me to take a year off from teaching but also provided, for the academic year, a research assistant, Karen Cantor. Her able assistance proved valuable, including when I organized a related symposium, “The Art and Life of Lee Krasner: Recollections, Cultural Context and New Perspectives,” which took place over two days in April 2007 at the Manhattan center of Stony Brook University. I am grateful to all who participated and to the Woman’s Art Journal, which published a special issue featuring some of the presentations from the program.
I was then fortunate enough to be able to write full-time for a second year, while holding the Distinguished Fulbright Chair in American Studies at the Roosevelt Study Center, in Middelburg, the Netherlands. There I wish to thank the director, Kees van Minnen, and his staff, as well as Janpeter Muilwijk and Guido Lippens, two of the town’s resident artists, and their families, whose friendship made my stay so far from home much more enjoyable. Several months spent at the Univ
ersity of Milan followed, where hospitality at the library and especially from colleagues such as Luigi Lehnus, Francesca Orestano, and Massimo Gioseffi was greatly appreciated. In addition, my research at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice was facilitated by its director, Philip Rylands, and by Venetian friends Mario Geymonat and Anna Lombardo, who offered hospitality in Italy, as did Blaise and Aniko Pasztory and Margherita Azzi-Visentini, who also welcomed me to Switzerland. In Paris, Evelyn Alcaude and Jeannine and Georges Richards were welcoming and encouraging.
This book was also supported by grants from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University, the Getty Research Center, and the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. I am also grateful to the City University of New York for granting me fellowship leave from teaching responsibilities during which time I worked on this book. I appreciate the help of Louisa Moy and Lisa Ellis at the Baruch College Library.
For permission to reproduce Krasner’s art works, and quote from her writing and that of Jackson Pollock, and for other help, I wish to thank the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, especially Kerrie Buitrago. I also wish to acknowledge the help of Maria Fernanda Meza at the Artists Rights Society.
Helen A. Harrison, director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, deserves special thanks for sharing with me her expertise on Pollock and Krasner and the East Hampton scene, for helping me find some of my interview subjects, and for reading and commenting on an early stage of this book. She has made the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center into an exceptional resource that would have pleased Lee Krasner. For helping me there and for her enthusiasm, I would also like to thank Ruby Jackson.
Among the other writers who have worked on either Lee Krasner or Jackson Pollock, some generously shared their unpublished recorded interviews and deserve particular thanks: Jeffrey Potter, whose interviews for his oral biography of Pollock proved an essential resource; also Cassandra Langer, Elizabeth Langhorne, Andrea Gabor, Barbara Rose, and Deborah Solomon. I am also grateful to Michael Brenson, who made available to me an interview from his unpublished research for his biography of David Smith, still in progress, and to David Craven, who first obtained Krasner’s FBI file in 1992, and shared it with me. Eugene V. Thaw, coauthor of the Pollock catalogue raisonné was also particularly helpful. Speaking with each of these writers has enriched this project.