Skip to main content
Krasner turned to collage making in the early 1950s, and again in the mid-1970s. At first, she tore old canvases and arranged them, enjoying the improvisational aspects of their rough edges. In her second foray with collage, she carefully cut paper with scissors, creating sharp and precise edges reminiscent of Matisse’s late cutouts. The sheets of paper she used were actually charcoal drawings, which she had done under Hofmann’s watchful eye. The idea of tearing these drawings may have come from her instructor, who in his critiques of student work often tore sheets of paper in two.
Free Space, signed and numbered XXIII/L, synthesizes the color of Matisse and the analytical Cubism of Picasso, and exemplifies Hofmann’s “push-pull” theory. It employs the arcing organic shapes so characteristic of Krasner’s work from this period and simultaneously demonstrates her use of collage. The color palette is limited; a bright kelly green of cut paper contrasts with a dull olive green. The serigraph vividly illustrates the interaction of color with the intense green shapes advancing. The interstices between the dominant elements are white, are articulated with dark green scribbles, and in turn create a dialogue between positive and negative shapes.
Free Space was a commission from the Transworld Art Corporation of New York for An American Portrait, consisting of original prints and sculptures by thirty-three international artists. Each portfolio was accompanied by historical writings and poetry designed to celebrate the country’s bicentennial. The aptly titled Free Space serigraphs were in a section that included selections by John Steinbeck, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Reynolda House Museum of American Art owns two prints from the deluxe edition of fifty and in both instances the bright green shapes are collaged. [2]
Much of Krasner’s organic imagery relates to nature in a general way, and may be explained by her experience living in Springs, on Long Island, an area known for its truck farms. In a 1965 statement she prophetically opined, “Painting for me, when it really ‘happens,’ is as miraculous as any natural phenomenon—as say a lettuce leaf. By ‘happens’ I mean the painting in which the inner aspect of man and his outer are inseparable, transcends technique, transcends subject and moves into the realm of the inevitable—then you have the lettuce leaf.” [3]
Notes:
[1] Krasner, interview with Dorothy Holmes, 1972, quoted in Gail Levin, Lee Krasner: A Biography (New York: Harper Collins, 2011), 419.
[2] See Ellen G. Landau< Lee Krasner: A Catalogue Raisonné (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995, 275–277.
[3] Krasner quoted in Bryan Robertson and B.H. Friedman, Lee Krasner: Paintings, Drawings and Collages, exhibition catalogue (London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1965), 19, quoted in Jeffrey D. Grove, Lee Krasner After Palingenesis (New York: Robert Miller Gallery, 2003), unpaginated.
ProvenanceTo 2008
Robert Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield, Richmond, VA. [1]
From 2008
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Robert Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield in 2008. [2]
Notes:
[1] Accession Record and Deed of Gift, object file.
[2] See note 1.
Exhibition History
DepartmentAmerican Art
Free Space I
Artist
Lee Krasner
(1908 - 1984)
Date1975
Mediumserigraph and collage on paper
DimensionsFrame: 23 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (59.1 x 75.6 cm)
Paper: 19 1/2 x 26 in. (49.5 x 66 cm)
SignedLee Krasner
Credit LineGift of Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs
Copyright© 2021 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Object number2008.3.1
DescriptionMost analyses of early twentieth-century; European modernism juxtapose two archrivals: Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. The former, a Fauvist, was renowned for his sensuous use of color and line, while the latter was the foremost Cubist who emphasized form and invented collage. Few subsequent artists have been able to reconcile the competing strategies; two exceptions were Hans Hofmann and his student Lee Krasner. Early in her career, Krasner became enamored with both artists through exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and New York galleries, and through her studies with Hofmann. She was never apologetic about her sources. “He [Pollock] would have influenced me even if I hadn’t married him. So did Picasso and Matisse and Mondrian. But I think I’ve held my own identity right through. … We are all influenced by other artists. Art brings about art.” [1]Krasner turned to collage making in the early 1950s, and again in the mid-1970s. At first, she tore old canvases and arranged them, enjoying the improvisational aspects of their rough edges. In her second foray with collage, she carefully cut paper with scissors, creating sharp and precise edges reminiscent of Matisse’s late cutouts. The sheets of paper she used were actually charcoal drawings, which she had done under Hofmann’s watchful eye. The idea of tearing these drawings may have come from her instructor, who in his critiques of student work often tore sheets of paper in two.
Free Space, signed and numbered XXIII/L, synthesizes the color of Matisse and the analytical Cubism of Picasso, and exemplifies Hofmann’s “push-pull” theory. It employs the arcing organic shapes so characteristic of Krasner’s work from this period and simultaneously demonstrates her use of collage. The color palette is limited; a bright kelly green of cut paper contrasts with a dull olive green. The serigraph vividly illustrates the interaction of color with the intense green shapes advancing. The interstices between the dominant elements are white, are articulated with dark green scribbles, and in turn create a dialogue between positive and negative shapes.
Free Space was a commission from the Transworld Art Corporation of New York for An American Portrait, consisting of original prints and sculptures by thirty-three international artists. Each portfolio was accompanied by historical writings and poetry designed to celebrate the country’s bicentennial. The aptly titled Free Space serigraphs were in a section that included selections by John Steinbeck, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Reynolda House Museum of American Art owns two prints from the deluxe edition of fifty and in both instances the bright green shapes are collaged. [2]
Much of Krasner’s organic imagery relates to nature in a general way, and may be explained by her experience living in Springs, on Long Island, an area known for its truck farms. In a 1965 statement she prophetically opined, “Painting for me, when it really ‘happens,’ is as miraculous as any natural phenomenon—as say a lettuce leaf. By ‘happens’ I mean the painting in which the inner aspect of man and his outer are inseparable, transcends technique, transcends subject and moves into the realm of the inevitable—then you have the lettuce leaf.” [3]
Notes:
[1] Krasner, interview with Dorothy Holmes, 1972, quoted in Gail Levin, Lee Krasner: A Biography (New York: Harper Collins, 2011), 419.
[2] See Ellen G. Landau< Lee Krasner: A Catalogue Raisonné (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995, 275–277.
[3] Krasner quoted in Bryan Robertson and B.H. Friedman, Lee Krasner: Paintings, Drawings and Collages, exhibition catalogue (London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1965), 19, quoted in Jeffrey D. Grove, Lee Krasner After Palingenesis (New York: Robert Miller Gallery, 2003), unpaginated.
ProvenanceTo 2008
Robert Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield, Richmond, VA. [1]
From 2008
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Robert Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield in 2008. [2]
Notes:
[1] Accession Record and Deed of Gift, object file.
[2] See note 1.
Exhibition History
Status
Not on viewCollections
Object/Object
