Lee Krasner [Hardcover]

Robert Hobbs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

This work chronicles the life and work of Lee Krasner, one of the most inventive Abstract Expressionist painters. Lee Kranser occupies a special place in Abstract Expressionism as a major female painter in a group of artists known for their macho individuality. Aproaching art-making as a forum for communicating her discoveries about the self, nature and modern life, she turn the process of her painting into a debate with herself and other artists, ranging from Picasso and Matisse to her husband, Jackson Pollock. Often painting in a large scale, she created canvases overflowing with colour and intensely personal content. Fearless in her readiness to explore new styles, she created an extraordinary range of works, from her early Cubist-based abstractions to ambitious late canvases related to the postmodernism of the 1980s. The abrupt changes in her style, coupled with her feuds with powerful critics, delayed critical acceptance of Krasner's art.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At nearly every stage of her 15-year marriage to the universally recognized Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner was quicker to respond to stylistic innovations in the art world than her husband. Pollock either didn't catch on to the art-world developments that surrounded him or incorporated changes much later than Krasner did. Some critics read Krasner's dynamic painting style as evidence of her superiority as an artist, but others saw her porousness as a problem, and Pollock's comparative insularity as one key to his uniqueness. In Lee Krasner, Robert Hobbs gracefully analyzes the many forces--of personality, education, and cultural and political milieu--that shaped Krasner's 60-year devotion to art; in the process, he elucidates the many reasons her "artistically constructed self remains provisional."

B.H. Friedman, Pollock's first biographer, introduces the book with a gripping series of intimate, you-are-there diary entries from the long years of his friendship with the two artists. Then Hobbs weaves biography and critical interpretation to develop the main text of the book. The reproductions of Krasner's drawings and paintings (97 in color) are excellent, giving a fair picture of her long career, and there are more than a score of black-and-white archival photos of Krasner and the other early abstract expressionists. The book has a few odd omissions though, such as any reference to Mark Tobey, whose "white writing" paintings and others are so closely related stylistically to Krasner's work of the 1940s. Still, this is the respectful but objective book Krasner's vigorous work and forceful personality deserve. It sheds sympathetic light on her lifelong, intellectually rigorous, artistic questing. --Peggy Moorman

From Publishers Weekly

This impressive critical-biographical study confirms Lee Krasner (1908-1984) as one of the major abstract expressionist artists. Though heavily influenced by her husband Jackson Pollock, she challenged and eventually abandoned his style through a series of paintings that Hobbs interprets as a feminist critique of the macho-oriented art of Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and their cronies. An art history professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Hobbs follows Krasner, daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, as she transforms herself from well-connected, belligerent young avant-garde painter to supportive, possessive, acquiescent wife and then to an eclectic pioneer who used her art as an intense confrontation with her subconscious. Her swirling biomorphs, jagged collages, radiant lush abstractions, mythic fragments and apocalyptic images of cities are among the works reproduced in 48 color and 67 b & w plates.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810963957
• ISBN-13: 978-0810963955
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,892,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Abstract Expressionism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A celebration of Lee Krasner, May 11, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lee Krasner (Modern Masters Series, Vol. 15) (Paperback)

Robert Hobbs' book on Lee Krasner is an excellent introduction to the life and work of this important artist. My first experience of Lee Krasner came through the film "Pollock," a biographical drama about Krasner's husband and fellow artist, Jackson Pollock. I was so impressed by Marcia Gay Harden's passionate portrayal of Krasner in the film that I sought out more information about Krasner, and found Hobbs' book.

This book is filled with full-color reproductions of many of Krasner's paintings. She brought something truly special to the abstract expressionist movement. Her work seems to evoke both the technological energy of an urban environment, as well as primal biological power.

The book also has many wonderful photographs of Krasner at many stages in her life. In his text, Hobbs discusses such subjects as the influence of Krasner's Russian Jewish heritage upon her work. This is a visually striking and thought-provoking book. My suggestion? Read the book, and see the movie "Pollock."

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book, May 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Lee Krasner (Hardcover)

This is a great book about Lee Krasner's life and work. Many survey books leave her out so she may be unknown to some people. This book has great color plates and a lot of text which is nice. There are also nice photographs of her. It is a wonderful book for anyone who appreciates art.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Krasner Delights!, April 21, 2009

By 

Wayne M. Salvatore "the artist" (Monte Sereno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lee Krasner (Hardcover)

Lee Krasner was probably one of the most underrated artists of her generation. She met her future husband, Jackson Pollock, in the early 40's and helped him advance his career. She knew some well-known art collectors such as Peggy Guggenheim and was able to connect he husband with them. Although Pollock died prematurely, thrown from his car which overturned and landed on one of his passengers (he was totally drunk at the time) in August of 1956, she then proceeded to use up some of the large rolls of canvas in the little shed at the back of her house where Pollock worked. The images in this book are very well done with excellent, realistic color.