Images(2)

Untitled [Little Image Painting]

Artist Lee Krasner (American, 1908 - 1984)

Date1947-1948

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsFramed: 25 7/8 × 19 5/8in. (65.7 × 49.8cm)
Overall: 22 × 16in. (55.9 × 40.6cm)

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Credit LineGift of Clare Eddy Thaw

Object number2016.2

On View

On view

Collections

20th-Century Paintings

Label TextLee Krasner’s untitled painting is one of about thirty-five she created in the late-1940s, shortly after she and her husband, Jackson Pollock (1912-56), moved to Springs, Long Island. It was a remarkably productive period for both artists. While he painted in a studio-shed next to their house, she made a studio of sorts in the bedroom. Krasner often painted with her canvas on the floor, rotating her work to achieve an overall, dynamic composition. These paintings, known as the Little Image series, are characterized by their textured surfaces that Krasner created by applying networks of black lines—often with a palette knife or directly from a tube of paint—over a calligraphic kind of mark-making. This work is especially vibrant because the under-painting has rich jewel tones. The effect is reminiscent of the mosaics Krasner was concurrently making with colorful shards of disparate materials. Mary E. Murray Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art