A pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, artist Lee Krasner’s pivotal role in that movement and her exceptional contributions to it were largely overshadowed by those of her male contemporaries — in particular, Jackson Pollock, whom she married in 1945.
Lee Krasner was born Lena Krassner in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian-Jewish refugee parents. She attended the Women’s Art School of Cooper Union and the esteemed National Academy of Design, graduating in 1932 during the height of the Great Depression. Krasner supported herself as a model and cocktail waitress until 1934, when she began painting murals for the Works Progress Administration, which kept her steadily employed until the agency closed in 1943. During that time, Krasner studied under Hans Hofmann and became a fixture on the New York art scene, joining the American Abstract Artists and the Artists Union.
A World War II–era commission had Krasner overseeing the creation of 19 pro-war store window displays in New York City. She recruited a handful of artists she dubbed her “misfits” for the project. Among them were Willem de Kooning and Pollock.
Throughout their 11-year marriage, Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner had an indelible influence on each other. While he painted in the bright, expansive barn studio, she worked in a small bedroom, where she produced her “Little Images” series, small-scale works loaded with paint, today considered among her most important contributions to Abstract Expressionism.
Lee Krasner’s art includes rich mosaics, Cubist drawings, assemblages and the epochal collages she produced in 1954–55, which incorporated scraps from her and Pollock’s discarded work and echoed the striking palettes of Matisse, one of her heroes. Krasner’s collages remain among her most celebrated pieces.
After Pollock’s death in 1956, Krasner moved into his barn studio, where she created large-scale paintings, including the 17-foot-wide The Seasons. She had her long-overdue first solo exhibition at London’s Whitechapel Gallery in 1965, and her second in 1975 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Those and other major solo exhibitions finally brought her the recognition she deserved for her contributions to the art world.
In 1978, Krasner was given her rightful place next to the likes of Mark Rothko, de Kooning and Pollock in the Whitney’s exhibition “Abstract Expressionism: The Formative Years.” Her U.S. retrospective opened at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 1983 and ended at the Museum of Modern Art in New York after her death in 1984.
Lee Krasner’s paintings continue to be in high demand. In 2019, her 1960 work The Eye Is the First Circle sold at auction for $11.7 million, breaking her 2017 auction record of $5.5 million.
Find a collection of Lee Krasner art on 1stDibs.
$1,000
Ashawagh Hall: The Springs Artists' Exhibition Poster /// Lee Krasner Pollock
By Lee Krasner
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) Title: "Ashawagh Hall: The Springs Artists' Exhibition" Series: Ashawagh Hall Posters *Signed by Krasner in the...
Lithograph
Free Space - Blue
By Lee Krasner
Located in Toronto, Ontario
The essence of Lee Krasner's (1908-1984) biography is familiar to anyone who has studied women's role in 20th century art history: An accomplished artist whose own output gets eclips...
Screen
Water No. 5 - Post War Abstract Gouache on Paper, 1969
By Lee Krasner
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Water No. 5" is an abstract gouache on howell paper painting by Lee Krasner in 1969. The artwork is 12 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches and is 18 1/4 x 15 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches with the frame, weigh...
Paper, Gouache
$1,680Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 40 in D 0.25 in
Abstract Expressionist Original Gouache on paper Collage style of de Kooning
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract Expressionist Original Gouache on paper and Collage Abstract Gouache and Paper Collage by Harold Winer (American, 1913-2006). Image 30"H x 40"W Slat with white paint .25" ...
Gouache, Illustration Board, Laid Paper
No title
Located in Paris, FR
Lithograph, 1953 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 27/100 Printer : Jean Pons (Paris) LCD5358
Lithograph
No title
Located in Paris, FR
Lithograph, 1953 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 27/100 Printer : Jean Pons (Paris) LCD5352
Lithograph
$1,350Sale Price|40% Off
H 33 in W 41.5 in D 1.25 in
Abstract Expressionist Composition with Stairs in Gouache and Ink on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract Expressionist Composition with Stairs in Gouache and Ink on Paper Bold abstract composition by Pacific Northwest artist Karen Guzak (American, b. 1939). A large, dark blue ...
Ink, Gouache, Handmade Paper
$3,900
H 36.23 in W 27.56 in D 1.58 in
1963 Mid-Century Abstract Modern Painting Signed By Ferdinand Spindel. Textured
Located in Frederiksberg C, DK
This abstract painting by German artist Ferdinand Spindel exemplifies post-war European abstraction, where texture is as important as colour and comp...
Oil, Wood Panel, Mixed Media
$4,500
H 18 in W 26.5 in
Friedel Dzubas - Signed #42/100 Emmerich gallery exhibition screenprint 1966-7
By Friedel Dzubas
Located in New York, NY
Friedel Dzubas at Andre Emmerich, 1967 Color silkscreen on wovepaper Pencil signed and numbered 42/100 on the front. Date printed on lithograph Rarely seen, this historic pencil sign...
Screen
No title
By Camille Bryen
Located in Paris, FR
Lithograph Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 38/50 Catalog : Loyer 136 69.00 cm. x 45.00 cm. 27.17 in. x 17.72 in. (paper) 52.00 cm. x 38.00 cm. 20.47 in. x 14.96 in....
Lithograph
Untitled (#222)
Located in Austin, TX
Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Oil on canvas. Signed and dated verso. 49.5 x 34.5 in. 51 x 36.25 in. (framed) Custom framed in a maple fl...
Canvas, Oil
Sockdolaga, Abstract Expressionist Screenprint by Don Wyman
By Don Wyman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Don Wyman Title: Sockdolaga Year: 1972 Medium: Serigraph, signed and dated in pencil Edition: Trial Proof Paper Size: 22 x 27.5 inches [55.88 x 69.85 cm]
Screen
$1,450
H 58.75 in W 55.5 in D 2.75 in
Signed Agudelo, Post-Cubist Abstract Composition, Oil on Canvas
Located in Astoria, NY
Agudelo (XX), Untitled (Abstract Composition), Oil on Two Canvases Mounted on Canvas, signed "Agudelo P" lower right, unframed. 58.75" H x 55.5" W x 2.75" D. Provenance: From...
Canvas, Oil
$950
H 22 in W 30 in
Untitled 10, Colorful Abstract Expressionist Screenprint by Raymond Parker
By Raymond Parker
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Raymond Parker, American (1922 - 1990) Title: Untitled 11 Year: 1980 Medium: Screenprint, signed in pencil Image Size: 19 x 27 inches Size: 22 x 30 in. (55.88 x 76.2 cm)
Screen
$1,500
H 15.75 in W 15.25 in
Emil Schumacher Limited Edition Serigraph Terraraph Print Abstract Art Informel
By Emil Schumacher 1
Located in Surfside, FL
Heavily textured abstract print in a serigraph and terragraph technique. It has a raised texture to the surface, A beautiful piece. This listing is for the one print, the cover justification sheet and the photograph are just included for provenance. This is from the limited edition of 100. Hand signed and numbered on colophon page. (They are not signed and numbered on each print) Arches paper. Dimensions: 15.75 X 15.25 These have a texture that feels like a painting. Done in Jaffa Israel based on the Hebrew Bible. Jewish, Judaica interest. Emil Schumacher is among the best-known exponents of Art Informel in Germany. His painting style, which he initially developed in the 1950s under the influence of Wols, is marked by dark, brownish black or brilliant thick red colours and a graffiti like sign language that endow the pictures the expressive character of old cracked masonry. Emil Schumacher (29 August 1912 in Hagen, Westfalen – 4 October 1999 in San José, Ibiza) was a German artist and painter. He was an important representative of abstract expressionism in post-war Germany. As an 18-year-old, Emil Schumacher undertakes a four-week-long bicycle tour to Paris, France. 1932–1935: Studies graphic design at the School of Applied Arts in Dortmund intending to become a graphic designer in advertising. 1935–1939: Independent artist without participating in exhibits. He undertakes study trips by bicycle to the Netherlands and Belgium. 1939–1945: Service obligation as draftsman in an arms factory, the Akkumulatoren–Werke of Hagen. Since 1945: Immediately after end of war, new start as independent artist. 1947: First solo exhibit in the Studio für neue Kunst. Co-founder of the artist group Junger Westen. 1954: Participates in the Willem Sandberg exhibition Deutsche Kunst nach 45 (German Art after 1945) at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam: for the first time after World War II, Contemporary German Art is shown abroad. 1955: Participates in the exhibition Peintures et sculptures non-figuratives en Allemagne d’aujourd’hui in Paris. This is the first time, 10 years after the war's end, that René Drouin shows contemporary German art at the Cercle Volney in France. 1956: While searching for new media and materials, Schumacher creates his first 'Tastobjekte' (tactile objects). Conrad von Soest Preis (Conrad-von-Soest Award), Münster, Germany. 1958: Travels to Spain, Italy and Tunisia. Participates in the XXIX. Venice Biennale, Italy. 1958–1960: Professorship at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (University of Fine Arts) in Hamburg, Germany. 1959: Participates in the documenta II in Kassel, Germany, as well as the V. São Paulo Art Biennial, Brazil. First solo exhibit in New York at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery. 1962: Travels to Libya and Tunisia. Summer stay in Anguillara, Lago di Bracciano, Italy. 1963: Solo exhibit as German contribution to the VII. São Paulo Art Biennial, Brazil. Travels to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia. Once again summer stay in Anguillara, paintings that originated during the stay are shown in the Galeria La Medusa in Rome. 1964: Participates in the documenta III in Kassel, Germany. 1965: Travels through Yugoslavia, to Montenegro, the Herzegovina, and Bosnia. 1966–77: Professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe. 1967–68: Guest professorship at the Minneapolis School of Art, Minneapolis, USA. In Minneapolis, a series of works on paper are created. This series called Minneapolis Suite was exhibited at the Lefebre Gallery in New York and at the Galerie de Montréal in Montréal, Canada. Extensive travels through the USA. 1969: Winter stay on the Island of Djerba in Tunisia. Here, the Djerba gouaches were created over the course of the following years. 1971: Since 1971, frequent stays on Ibiza during spring and summer. 1974: Autumn stay in Cunardo, Lago Maggiore where the first ceramic works are created in Ceramica Ibis. 1983: Travels to Morocco where Suite Maroc, encompassing 36 pages, is created. 1985: Guest of Honor of the German Academy of Rome, Villa Massimo, Italy. 1988: In October 1988, a 10-day stay in Iraq. Design and creation of a 20 m long ceramic wall mural in the new building of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. 1991: Guest professorship at the Concorso Superiore Internazionale del Disegno of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Como, Italy. 1996: Schumacher designs a 20 m long and 3 m high mosaic wall for the Colosseo (Rome Metro) in Rome, Italy. 1998: Commission for mural in the Reichstag building, Berlin (executed in 1999). 1999: Member of the Academy of the Arts of Saxony (Sächsische Akademie der Künste), Dresden, Germany. Publication of the Israeli book 'GENESIS' with 18 Serigraphies in the edition Har-El, Jaffa/ Jerusalem / Israel. Awards 1948: Kunstpreis junger westen from the city of Recklinghausen, Germany. 1955 Art award from the city of Iserlohn, Germany. 1958: Karl Ernst Osthaus Preis (Karl-Ernst-Osthaus Award), 1958: Guggenheim Award (National Section), New York. 1959: Award from the Japanese Cultural Minister in celebration of the V. International Art Exhibition, Tokyo. 1962: Premio Cardazzo, XXX Venice Biennale, Italy. 1962: First prize silver medal, Bang Danh-Du Award in celebration of the 1st International Arts Exhibition, Saigon, Vietnam. 1963: Großer Kunstpreis (Great Art Award) of North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf, Germany. 1966: Prize of the Governor of Tokyo, in celebration of the 5th International Biennale Exhibition of Prints, Tokyo, 1968: Member of the Academy of Arts Berlin, Germany. 1974: Award of the city of Ibiza in celebration of the Graphic-Biennial 1974. 1978: August Macke Prize of the city of Meschede 1983: Receives Grand Cross of Merit with Star from the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. French art critic Michel Tapié named the influential European movement that during the 1950s paralleled Abstract Expressionism in the U.S, Art Informel. Art Informel is and expressionist, artist-oriented abstraction rooted in the works of Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet, and Tachiste and Surrealist automatism. A style primarily of painting that developed in 1945/46 as reaction to geometric abstraction prevailing in post war Paris in the following of the École de Paris. Informel painting emphasises the spontaneous act of painting, the unconscious side of artistic creativity. The process of painting is often more important than what comes out of it. Informel is an international style and can be subdivided into various schools. Tachism [French: "tache" = blot], Action painting, Abstract Expressionism and Art Brut [French = "raw art"] are also considered Informel. By that definition, leading exponents of Informel in the US were Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and in France Wols, Jean Fautrier and Jean Dubuffet. In Germany Informel was at its height in the 1950s and 1960s. The leading exponents of German Informel are Hans Hartung, Emil Schumacher, Karl Fred Dahmen, K.O. Götz, Gerhard Hoehme...
Screen
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H 19.63 in W 26.25 in
Free Space /// Lee Krasner Screenprint Abstract Expressionist Female Artist Art
By Lee Krasner
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) Title: "Free Space" Portfolio: An American Portrait, 1776-1976 (Vol. 3) *Signed and numbered by Krasner in pencil lower left Year: 1975 Medi...
Screen
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H 29.88 in W 23.75 in
Ashawagh Hall: The Springs Artists' Exhibition Poster (Signed) /// Female Artist
By Lee Krasner
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) Title: "Ashawagh Hall: The Springs Artists' Exhibition" Series: Ashawagh Hall Posters *Signed and numbered by Krasner in pencil lower center. It is also signed in the plate (printed signature) lower right Year: 1974 Medium: Original Lithograph, Exhibition Poster on heavy wove paper Limited edition: 1/25, (there was also an unsigned edition of approx. 500) Printer: Unknown Publisher: Ashawagh Hall, East Hampton, NY Framing: Recently framed in a contemporary dark brown wood moulding with frame space. All archival Framed size: 29.88" x 23.75" Sheet size: 28.5" x 22.63" Image size: 28" x 22.13" Condition: Colors are attenuated. Some mild water staining that has caused discoloration and general wear lower right. In otherwise good condition will full margins Extremely rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Pompano Beach...
Lithograph
Peace Portfolio
By Lee Krasner
Located in Toronto, Ontario
In recent years, there has been a concerted effort by scholars, dealers, and curators to reexamine the canon of art history in hopes of including (and reevaluating) more female artists. One of the artists that have been at the forefront of this new mentality and activity is unquestionably Lee Krasner (1908-1984). How and why has she been marginalized from the narrative surrounding the development and importance of Abstract Expressionism is finally being addressed. And finally, she is being appraised as an important contributor to American abstraction and not simply Jackson Pollock's wife. We highly recommend Gail Levin's biography of Lee Krasner. This work, a paradigm of Lee Krasner's signature gestural style, was published in 1970 by the Academic and Professional Action Committee for a Responsible Congress. It was included in the “Peace Portfolio...
Lithograph
Marlborough
By Lee Krasner
Located in Toronto, Ontario
In recent years, there has been a concerted effort, by scholars, dealers, and curators to reexamine the canon of art history in hopes of including (and reevaluating) more female arti...
Lithograph, Offset
Pink Stone (also called Rose Stone)
By Lee Krasner
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
An original signed lithograph on Arches paper by American artist Lee Krasner (1908-1984) titled "Pink Stone (also called Rose Stone)", 1969. Hand pencil sig...
Lithograph
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H 40 in W 25 in D 0.1 in
Embrace, Geometric Abstract Silkscreen by Lee Krasner Pollock 1974
By Lee Krasner
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lee Lenore Krasner, American (1908 - 1984) Title: Embrace Year: 1974 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 200 Paper Size: 40 x 25 inches (101.6 x 63.5 cm)
Screen
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H 12 in W 18 in
Poem /// Abstract Expressionist Female Artist Post-War NY Modern Lithograph MoMA
By Lee Krasner
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) Title: "Poem" Portfolio: In Memory of My Feelings *Issued unsigned Year: 1967 (First edition) Medium: Original Lithograph on Mohawk Superfine Smooth paper Limited edition: 514/2,500 Printer: Crafton Graphic Company, Inc., New York, NY Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Reference: "Lee Krasner: A Catalogue Raisonné" - Landau No. 447, page 236-237; "Lee Krasner" - Hobbs No. 64, page 143 Sheet size: 12" x 18" Condition: In excellent condition Rare Notes: With centerfold as issued. Numbered on colophon page. Comes from the 1967 "In Memory of My Feelings: A Selection of Poems" book volume by Frank O'Hara with approx. 46 unbound original lithographs by various artists. Collaboration: Edward Katz (printing). The last image of the complete book is for reference/provenance; it is not included. This image Krasner contributed to "In Memory of My Feelings: A Selection of Poems" by Frank O'Hara, edited by Bill Berkson, for the Museum of Modern Art. The project was published in 1967 in memory of Frank O'Hara, poet and associate curator at the museum, who died in a tragic accident in 1966. Bill Berkson (with the assistance of Kenneth Koch and John Ashbery) selected the poems and (with advice from Robert Motherwell) asked the following artists to contribute: Nell Blaine, Norman Bluhm, Joe Branaird, John Buton, Giorgio Cavallon, Allan D'Arcangelo, Elaine de Kooning, Willem de Kooning, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Michael Goldberg, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Al Held, Jasper Johns, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Alex Katz, Lee Krasner, Alfred Leslie, Roy Lichtenstein, Marisol, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Reuben Nakian, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, and Jane Wilson...
Lithograph
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H 40 in W 25 in D 0.1 in
Embrace, Geometric Abstract Silkscreen by Lee Krasner Pollock 1974
By Lee Krasner
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lee Lenore Krasner, American (1908 - 1984) Title: Embrace Year: 1974 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 200 Paper Size: 40 x 25 inches (101.6 x 63.5 cm)
Screen
Free Space - Lee Krasner - Serigraph - Contemporary
By Lee Krasner
Located in Roma, IT
Free Space is an original serigraph on paper, created by the female artist Lee Krasner, a major exponent of Abstract Expressionism. Edition of 52/175, numb...
Screen
Peace, Abstract Silkscreen by Lee Krasner Pollock
By Lee Krasner
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lee Lenore Krasner Title: Peace from the Peace Portfolio Year: 1970 Medium: Silkscreen on Arches Paper, Signed and Numbered in Pencil Edition: 165/175 Size: 21 in. x 26 in. (...
Screen
Peace, Abstract Silkscreen by Lee Krasner Pollock
By Lee Krasner
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lee Lenore Krasner Title: Peace from the Peace Portfolio Year: 1970 Medium: Silkscreen on Arches Paper, Signed and Numbered in Pencil Edition: 165/175 Size: 21 in. x 26 in. (...
Screen
Free Space
By Lee Krasner
Located in Missouri, MO
"Free Space" 1975 Color Screenprint Artist Signed Lower Center "Lee Krasner" and Numbered XXII/L Image Size: approx 19 x 26 inches Framed Size: approx 24.25 x 30.25 inchesmodern A...
Screen