Collection 1950s–1970s

Lee Krasner. Gaea. 1966

Oil on canvas, 69" x 10' 5 1/2" (175.3 x 318.8 cm). Kay Sage Tanguy Fund. © 2024 Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Curator, Starr Figura: Here's Lee Krasner:

Artist, Lee Krasner: I think my initial contact with the canvas—because some gesture occurs—some sweep across the canvas before I take off, so to speak. And in that initial contact may be a suggestion which dictates then—color.

Your second or third attack on the canvas may suggest, or even look, beautiful; but you feel a need to carry it further. Well, pretty soon you’re in this combat with the canvas.

I like a canvas to breathe and be alive. Be alive is the point. And, as your limitations are something called pigment and canvas, let’s see if I can do it.