Written by: Jacqueline Yu
Lee Krasner was a revolutionary Abstract Expressionist and one of the few well-known female artists of her time, although she was still heavily overshadowed by her husband, Jackson Pollock. Krasner was born on October 27, 1908 as Lena Krassner to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. She grew up in the Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York. Ever since she was 13 years old, she wanted to become a professional artist, which was a strange career path at the time for a woman, more so for an immigrant. She was accepted to the Washington Irving High School which was the only public high school at the time that allowed women to study art. She pursued art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science, a women’s school, on a scholarship and continued her career in the Art Students League. She was also a student at the National Academy of Design from 1926 - 1932 where her teachers often discriminated against her due to her independent streak which they thought was inappropriate for a woman. In order to support herself while studying to be a teacher, the only job available for female artists at the time, Krasner worked in a factory, as a waitress, and as an artist’s model. During the Great Depression, she was employed by the Works Progress Administration to paint murals. Pollock actually served as her assistant on a couple WPA murals. Influenced by the times, Krasner began to rebuke what she had learned at the national academy and favored a more bohemian approach, even adopting Marxism at one point. She studied under Hans Hofmann who exposed her to Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse which prompted her to pursue an “all-over” style using abstract, repetitive designs informed by floral motifs. She joined the American Abstract Artists in 1936 which worked to help the public appreciate abstract art. While in this association, she fell in love with Pollock, moved in with him in 1941, and married him in 1945. After her marriage to Pollock, Krasner’s career took a backseat as she became Pollock’s promoter and manager. Throughout their marriage, Krasner struggled with Pollock’s alcoholism and womanizing. When the couple moved to Long Island, Krasner began her “Little Image” series (1945 - 1950) which was characterized by small canvases with repetitive, linear designs in white pigment. She was inspired by jewish mysticism, Kabbalah, and frequently painted from right to left, the direction of hebrew lettering. She also included kabbalistic symbols. In the Early 1950s, Krasner began to experiment with collage like Matisse. At one point, she even tore up here paintings and reconstructed them into works reminiscent of cubism. These works were well received and Clement Greenberg, a famous art critic at the time, loved them. After Pollock’s death, Krasner began her “Earth Green” series (1956 - 1959) which combined nature forms with rhythmic, splattered technique. Critic’s were not a fan of these works and described them as too similar to Pollock and too decorative, a euphemism for feminine. In the early 1960s, Krasner suffered an aneurysm and her art was sidetracked yet again. She continued her work but with more large areas of color inspired by the reigning art movement at the time: Color Field and Minimalism. Her work was revived in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the women’s movement and she received a retrospective in London in 1965. Her first retrospective in the states was at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts in October 1983, just a year before she died. Most people know Krasner today as Jackson Pollock’s wife. However, she was more than just that. She actively fought against the “women can’t paint” stereotype and was revered as a female artist. She encouraged feminist artists to persevere because she had in the male-dominated Ab-Ex movement. Furthermore, she helped establish the Pollock-Krasner foundation which is dedicated to assisting the development of fine artists and has contributed over 46 million dollars in grants to working artists around the world. Lee Krasner is yet another example of a talented female artist being suppressed by the male-dominated art world, but she also represents a step in the right direction. She did garner fame for her work, despite her gender, which is more than could be said for many female artists in the past.
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Written by: Alex Broening
Edgar Degas was born into a moderately wealth family in Paris, France on July 19th, 1834. The oldest of five children, at the age of eleven, Degas enrolled in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. After earning his baccalaureate in literature at the age of 19, Degas began to grow more invested in art, and began painting seriously – both his own work, and copies of works from the Louvre. Degas was forced to attend Law School at the University of Law in Paris by his father Augustin De Gas, but showed little interest in the subject matter, preferring to paint and draw. Degas left Law School when he was accepted into the École des Beaux-Arts, where he would study drawing under the tutelage of Louis Lamothe. At the École, he learned essentials of classical drawing, with a focus on line and draftsmanship skill. Shortly afterward, Degas left for Italy, where he spent the next three years. In Italy, Degas copied countless pieces by “Old Masters” such as Raphael and Michelangelo, gaining skill as a draftsman and in the techniques of a variety of styles. Unlike many of the other revolutionary artists of the time, Degas’ artwork was shown regularly at the Salon in Paris, but garnered little appreciation. While his first work accepted was a historical painting, his style quickly moved to focus on contemporary matters – often choosing horses or a steeplechase as the subject for his work. Like other artists of the time, Degas became involved in the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, disrupting his artwork and process. In the army, however, he learned of his poor eyesight, which would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life. After the war, Degas moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and worked there for a while. In New Orleans, he painted his only work to be accepted into a museum during his life. Degas was forced to return to Paris in 1873, in order to sort out his brother’s financial troubles. He joined with a group of other artists, including Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet, to show their works separately from the Salon, in what came to be known as the Impressionist Exhibitions. However, a reserved and quiet man, Degas loathed the scandal that the exhibitions brought. Degas’ work was also quite different from the others exhibited at the Impressionist Exhibitions. Degas refused to be characterized as an Impressionist, scorning Impressionists for painting outside, and decrying their use of bright colors and “spontaneity.” Indeed, Degas once said: “No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and of the study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing.” Clearly frustrated by the label, Degas and his group dissolved 1886. While Degas was similar to the Impressionists in his use of and play with light and shadow, he preferred to go his own way – unattached to any particular movement, and calling himself a “realist.” Degas’ work continued to evolve, as his vivid palette developed alongside his eye for composition. Degas was also influenced by photography and printmaking. As he aged, Degas’ painting became more loose and abstracted – closely resembling the art of the Impressionist movement. Many of Degas’ paintings of nude women and dancers came from this period and show extreme skill in the capturing of light and shade. Degas’ work was also characterized by an intense amount of planning. Even when his work appeared extemporaneous or impulsive, many hours of thought and contemplation went into it. Degas’ last years were unhappy. Believing that artists could have no close friends, Degas distanced himself from those around him, leaving himself isolated. Many of his friends also died before him. In addition, his involvement with the anti-Semitism on prominent display during the scandals of the Dreyfus affair separated him from all of his Jewish friends – a separation that he later regretted. Never married, he died alone in Paris in 1917, having spent the last years of his life nearly blind and unable to work. Degas’ effect on art and the Impressionist movement is remarkable. Degas’ works captured “real life.” His frank portrayals of dancers backstage, as in Dancers Tying Shoes (1883), gave greater weight to those paintings. He was unafraid to paint the unromanticized portions of life. Undoubtedly, Degas was also a master of light and form, as can be seen in the radiating and modulating light in his 1871 work The Dancing Class. His impact on the development of art was immeasurable, essentially setting the stage for art’s evolution into abstraction. |
ContributorsJACQUELINE YU is the co-founder of the MLWGS art history online magazine. She is an incredible artist and devotes much of her time to both participating in, experiencing, and appreciating art. Archives
April 2019
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