1 00:00:15,539 --> 00:00:27,739 Speaker 1: Pushkin. After Jackson died, Lee was in the hot seat. 2 00:00:28,779 --> 00:00:33,139 Speaker 1: She became Jackson's sole heir and the executor of his estate. 3 00:00:34,219 --> 00:00:38,379 Speaker 1: This meant she was now responsible for Jackson's entire legacy 4 00:00:38,899 --> 00:00:43,739 Speaker 1: and the value of his work. And so around the 5 00:00:43,779 --> 00:00:46,899 Speaker 1: autumn of nineteen fifty six, Lee went to meet a 6 00:00:46,939 --> 00:00:53,219 Speaker 1: guy called Sydney Janis, Jackson's art dealer. Janis was sixty 7 00:00:53,299 --> 00:00:56,859 Speaker 1: years old and usually wore a sharp suit. He had 8 00:00:56,899 --> 00:01:01,219 Speaker 1: that air about him of experience and authority. He had 9 00:01:01,259 --> 00:01:04,539 Speaker 1: made his money in the garment industry, designing a new 10 00:01:04,659 --> 00:01:07,419 Speaker 1: kind of shirt with two pockets on it, and from 11 00:01:07,459 --> 00:01:11,939 Speaker 1: there he turned to art. He was now one of 12 00:01:12,019 --> 00:01:15,579 Speaker 1: New York's most successful dealers of modern art, with a 13 00:01:15,619 --> 00:01:19,619 Speaker 1: gallery on East fifty seventh Street. He was well connected 14 00:01:19,899 --> 00:01:24,379 Speaker 1: and had a reputation for being a tough negotiator. Lee 15 00:01:24,499 --> 00:01:27,259 Speaker 1: knew Janis was the person who could get the best 16 00:01:27,299 --> 00:01:31,019 Speaker 1: price for Jackson's work, and that's exactly what Lee wanted. 17 00:01:31,539 --> 00:01:35,619 Speaker 1: But it wasn't going to be easy. Lee listened carefully 18 00:01:35,819 --> 00:01:39,779 Speaker 1: as Janis told her he had good news. He'd managed 19 00:01:39,819 --> 00:01:42,459 Speaker 1: to line up the sale of one of Jackson's drip 20 00:01:42,499 --> 00:01:47,699 Speaker 1: paintings called Autumn Rhythm to the Museum of Modern Art MoMA. 21 00:01:48,299 --> 00:01:55,899 Speaker 1: The price eight thousand dollars. At the time, this would 22 00:01:55,899 --> 00:01:59,379 Speaker 1: have been the most a Jackson Pollock painting had ever 23 00:01:59,419 --> 00:02:03,059 Speaker 1: sold for, and I might add a hefty price tag 24 00:02:03,099 --> 00:02:06,179 Speaker 1: for an abstract work at least won by an American 25 00:02:06,219 --> 00:02:12,539 Speaker 1: contemporary painter. While European were commanding healthier sums, anything more 26 00:02:12,579 --> 00:02:16,459 Speaker 1: than ten thousand dollars on an American abstract painting was 27 00:02:16,539 --> 00:02:21,099 Speaker 1: unheard of, So eight thousand dollars for one painting was 28 00:02:21,139 --> 00:02:24,539 Speaker 1: a big chunk of money, and Lee knew this was 29 00:02:24,579 --> 00:02:29,979 Speaker 1: a fantastic deal. When Jackson died, she only had two 30 00:02:30,059 --> 00:02:33,259 Speaker 1: hundred dollars in the bank. She'd even had to borrow 31 00:02:33,339 --> 00:02:37,619 Speaker 1: money for the funeral, so surely this was in the bag. 32 00:02:42,259 --> 00:02:47,539 Speaker 1: But then something remarkable happened. Lee told him the price 33 00:02:47,659 --> 00:02:52,499 Speaker 1: was no longer eight thousand dollars. It was thirty thousand, 34 00:02:53,859 --> 00:02:58,499 Speaker 1: more than triple, an outrageous price hike. Thirty thousand dollars 35 00:02:58,739 --> 00:03:01,299 Speaker 1: was more than Jackson had made from all his other 36 00:03:01,379 --> 00:03:05,659 Speaker 1: sales when he was alive. So there was Lee, the 37 00:03:05,699 --> 00:03:10,219 Speaker 1: great advocate for Jackson's work, and Janis, the rude businessman 38 00:03:11,619 --> 00:03:17,779 Speaker 1: who would blink first if momabiz, it would be the 39 00:03:17,899 --> 00:03:22,299 Speaker 1: highest ever sale for an American abstract painting. It would 40 00:03:22,299 --> 00:03:28,019 Speaker 1: secure Jackson's artistic reputation and Lee's financial future. It would 41 00:03:28,099 --> 00:03:32,259 Speaker 1: allow her to carry on painting. If there's no sale, 42 00:03:32,499 --> 00:03:36,539 Speaker 1: she risks never being taken seriously again and puts the 43 00:03:36,579 --> 00:03:41,459 Speaker 1: future of the whole of Jackson's estate in jeopardy. In 44 00:03:41,579 --> 00:03:46,459 Speaker 1: this final episode, the deal that revolutionized the American modern 45 00:03:46,579 --> 00:03:47,139 Speaker 1: art market. 46 00:03:47,819 --> 00:03:52,419 Speaker 2: Here it is then at fifty million dollars sold at 47 00:03:52,419 --> 00:03:56,099 Speaker 2: fifty two million, and Lee's own rise to the top, 48 00:03:56,779 --> 00:04:02,779 Speaker 2: the most accomplished work of her career. Extraordinary, lyrical, vibrant, 49 00:04:03,019 --> 00:04:04,539 Speaker 2: luscious paintings. 50 00:04:07,539 --> 00:04:10,819 Speaker 1: I'm Katie Hessel and this is Death of an Artist. 51 00:04:11,099 --> 00:04:19,099 Speaker 1: Krasner and Pollock, Episode six, A Phoenix from the Ashes. 52 00:04:23,099 --> 00:04:27,179 Speaker 1: After Lee more than tripled the asking price of Jackson's painting, 53 00:04:27,579 --> 00:04:31,259 Speaker 1: she saw Sidney Janis, his art dealer, staring back at 54 00:04:31,259 --> 00:04:36,379 Speaker 1: her in disbelief. This was becoming a real game of chess. 55 00:04:38,259 --> 00:04:42,499 Speaker 1: Lee was the executor of Jackson's estate, meaning she could 56 00:04:42,499 --> 00:04:45,419 Speaker 1: make the final call on what to sell for how 57 00:04:45,499 --> 00:04:49,339 Speaker 1: much and to who. But Sidney was the dealer, the 58 00:04:49,419 --> 00:04:52,899 Speaker 1: guy with the right connections to the big museums. He 59 00:04:53,099 --> 00:04:55,659 Speaker 1: was the person who could get her over the line. 60 00:04:56,179 --> 00:04:59,379 Speaker 1: So on the one hand, you can imagine why Janis 61 00:04:59,459 --> 00:05:03,459 Speaker 1: questioned Lee. He thought he was the expert. They were, 62 00:05:03,779 --> 00:05:07,779 Speaker 1: after all, in his gallery, and he thought they had 63 00:05:07,779 --> 00:05:11,619 Speaker 1: a deal that would make a everyone happy. On the 64 00:05:11,659 --> 00:05:15,019 Speaker 1: other hand, we can imagine why Lee might have decided 65 00:05:15,299 --> 00:05:18,539 Speaker 1: that this was the opportune moment for a big move. 66 00:05:19,939 --> 00:05:23,859 Speaker 1: Lee understood that if she sold one of Jackson's paintings 67 00:05:23,979 --> 00:05:26,739 Speaker 1: for a much higher price, it would make all of 68 00:05:26,779 --> 00:05:31,419 Speaker 1: his work more valuable, and with Jackson now being dead, 69 00:05:31,779 --> 00:05:37,059 Speaker 1: he would never produce another painting. But it was also symbolic. 70 00:05:37,819 --> 00:05:41,219 Speaker 1: Here was a chance to have Pollock's genius acknowledged by 71 00:05:41,259 --> 00:05:45,739 Speaker 1: the market, and she knew the value of everything she'd 72 00:05:45,779 --> 00:05:49,899 Speaker 1: worked for over the past fifteen years. How she'd managed 73 00:05:49,899 --> 00:05:53,979 Speaker 1: to convince Peggy Guggenheim to represent Jackson. How together with 74 00:05:54,059 --> 00:05:57,979 Speaker 1: Clement Greenberg, she'd publicized his work, helped him get into 75 00:05:58,099 --> 00:06:01,579 Speaker 1: Life magazine, where they'd asked if he was America's greatest 76 00:06:01,619 --> 00:06:05,739 Speaker 1: living painter, and that value was not eight thousand for 77 00:06:05,779 --> 00:06:13,619 Speaker 1: a painting, it was thirty thousand. So she held out, 78 00:06:14,339 --> 00:06:20,699 Speaker 1: and to her complete surprise, Janis agreed he would do 79 00:06:20,859 --> 00:06:23,419 Speaker 1: as she asked. He would write to the director of 80 00:06:23,499 --> 00:06:26,899 Speaker 1: MoMA that if they wanted to buy Autumn Rhythm, it 81 00:06:26,939 --> 00:06:37,499 Speaker 1: would actually be thirty thousand dollars. But MoMA's director was 82 00:06:37,579 --> 00:06:41,099 Speaker 1: so appalled by the price change that he didn't even reply, 83 00:06:42,619 --> 00:06:46,739 Speaker 1: which put Lee and Janis in a tricky position. But 84 00:06:46,859 --> 00:06:50,779 Speaker 1: the game wasn't over. There was one other place they 85 00:06:50,819 --> 00:06:55,739 Speaker 1: could potentially sell the painting, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 86 00:06:56,299 --> 00:07:01,779 Speaker 1: MoMA's then rival. Now, I gotta say, business wise, this 87 00:07:01,899 --> 00:07:04,899 Speaker 1: move to approach the MET after MoMA had dropped off 88 00:07:05,379 --> 00:07:08,979 Speaker 1: was pretty risky, because if they talked to each other, 89 00:07:09,339 --> 00:07:11,979 Speaker 1: they could have easily both refused to pay the higher 90 00:07:12,059 --> 00:07:16,339 Speaker 1: thirty thousand dollars price. Worse still, if the Mets simply 91 00:07:16,419 --> 00:07:20,699 Speaker 1: said no deal, Lee would have surely damaged any chance 92 00:07:20,739 --> 00:07:25,579 Speaker 1: of selling Jackson's work for decent prices ever again. But 93 00:07:26,339 --> 00:07:29,139 Speaker 1: if Lee pulled it off, it would be the biggest 94 00:07:29,139 --> 00:07:34,499 Speaker 1: deal for an American abstract painting so far. We don't 95 00:07:34,539 --> 00:07:37,899 Speaker 1: know exactly how long Lee and Janis waited for a 96 00:07:37,939 --> 00:07:41,539 Speaker 1: response from the MET, but at some point they finally 97 00:07:41,579 --> 00:07:51,499 Speaker 1: got one. The Met had agreed to the terms Lee 98 00:07:51,659 --> 00:07:55,659 Speaker 1: had played her cards right. She'd outdealered the two main 99 00:07:55,819 --> 00:08:05,899 Speaker 1: entities in the New York art market. News of the 100 00:08:05,939 --> 00:08:12,179 Speaker 1: sale traveled fast among New York artists, nearly all of them, 101 00:08:12,379 --> 00:08:15,539 Speaker 1: like Jackson, had struggled to make a decent living from 102 00:08:15,579 --> 00:08:20,739 Speaker 1: selling their art. Suddenly, prices for their work doubled overnight 103 00:08:21,139 --> 00:08:24,299 Speaker 1: and would continue to climb year on year till we 104 00:08:24,379 --> 00:08:27,499 Speaker 1: get to the kind of stratospheric prices today. 105 00:08:27,939 --> 00:08:30,339 Speaker 2: At eighty million dollars is the bin in the se 106 00:08:30,859 --> 00:08:36,059 Speaker 2: Jeff Coon's rabbit. You have it, so eighty million dollars. 107 00:08:35,379 --> 00:08:42,019 Speaker 1: As for Autumn Rhythm, it's now a star attraction hanging 108 00:08:42,099 --> 00:08:46,339 Speaker 1: in the met purchased for thirty thousand in nineteen fifty seven, 109 00:08:46,899 --> 00:08:53,779 Speaker 1: now essentially priceless. With that one deal, Lee had set 110 00:08:53,819 --> 00:08:57,579 Speaker 1: the train in motion that would secure her fortune, Jackson's 111 00:08:57,619 --> 00:09:02,339 Speaker 1: legacy and below the modern art market wide open. And now, 112 00:09:02,579 --> 00:09:06,699 Speaker 1: as she would say in one interview, I can once 113 00:09:06,739 --> 00:09:13,859 Speaker 1: again concentrate on being Lee cra the painter. After the break, 114 00:09:14,339 --> 00:09:28,339 Speaker 1: leif finally gets some recognition. It's a late summer's evening. 115 00:09:28,499 --> 00:09:32,539 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty nine, three years after that watershed sale 116 00:09:32,659 --> 00:09:36,539 Speaker 1: of Jackson's work, Lee was lying awake in her bedroom 117 00:09:36,579 --> 00:09:42,579 Speaker 1: in Springs. These nights she couldn't sleep since Jackson died. 118 00:09:42,859 --> 00:09:46,459 Speaker 1: She'd tried to rebuild her life. She invited friends out 119 00:09:46,499 --> 00:09:49,299 Speaker 1: to stay and she carried on painting in the barn. 120 00:09:50,219 --> 00:09:52,979 Speaker 1: Lee felt like she was getting herself back on track, 121 00:09:53,979 --> 00:09:56,579 Speaker 1: but then she received more bad news. 122 00:09:58,619 --> 00:10:04,259 Speaker 2: Her mother dies. Nineteen fifty nine becomes this really difficult 123 00:10:04,339 --> 00:10:06,299 Speaker 2: moment because her grief redoubles. 124 00:10:07,619 --> 00:10:12,219 Speaker 1: This is my friend Ellen. She's an art curator and 125 00:10:12,299 --> 00:10:15,139 Speaker 1: a few years ago she put on a landmark show 126 00:10:15,259 --> 00:10:18,659 Speaker 1: of Lee's work at the Barbican Art Gallery in London. 127 00:10:19,299 --> 00:10:21,979 Speaker 2: You know, she was still so much in the wake 128 00:10:22,179 --> 00:10:25,219 Speaker 2: of Pollock's loss, and now she has the loss of 129 00:10:25,219 --> 00:10:28,459 Speaker 2: her mother. She says this really poignant line. She says, 130 00:10:28,459 --> 00:10:32,859 Speaker 2: I wasn't allowed to grieve at my own tempo. 131 00:10:34,019 --> 00:10:38,699 Speaker 1: The days became almost impossible to bear. By the time 132 00:10:38,739 --> 00:10:41,659 Speaker 1: it was the evening. All he wanted to do was sleep, 133 00:10:43,219 --> 00:10:46,299 Speaker 1: but she couldn't. Her mind wouldn't stop racing. 134 00:10:46,979 --> 00:10:50,699 Speaker 2: She's grieving heavily, and grief is complex. 135 00:10:51,339 --> 00:10:55,499 Speaker 1: Lee tried everything, surrounding her bedroom with plants and her 136 00:10:55,499 --> 00:11:00,619 Speaker 1: collections of shells from nearby beaches. None of it worked. 137 00:11:01,619 --> 00:11:06,779 Speaker 2: We might imagine Krasner on one of these evenings, finding 138 00:11:06,819 --> 00:11:11,059 Speaker 2: herself again awake in the night, that sense that we've 139 00:11:11,059 --> 00:11:15,379 Speaker 2: all had at moments of insomn air of what to do. 140 00:11:16,259 --> 00:11:20,179 Speaker 1: Lee would get up, eyes barely open, and slowly walk 141 00:11:20,219 --> 00:11:23,499 Speaker 1: down the wooden staircase. She would turn the handle of 142 00:11:23,539 --> 00:11:26,379 Speaker 1: the front door and carry on out into the night. 143 00:11:26,939 --> 00:11:30,939 Speaker 2: And she'd pad through this very familiar landscape out to 144 00:11:31,019 --> 00:11:35,339 Speaker 2: the barn, which is sort of maybe ten paces away, 145 00:11:35,579 --> 00:11:37,179 Speaker 2: no great distance. 146 00:11:37,419 --> 00:11:41,019 Speaker 1: And Lee would open the door, turn on the electric lamps, 147 00:11:41,339 --> 00:11:46,579 Speaker 1: flooding the space in a dim artificial light, and slowly 148 00:11:46,899 --> 00:11:48,659 Speaker 1: she would take out her painting. 149 00:11:48,339 --> 00:11:53,299 Speaker 2: Materials, tacking a canvas the entire length of one wall. 150 00:11:54,019 --> 00:11:57,619 Speaker 2: It was just her paint trolley and her canvas. 151 00:11:59,059 --> 00:12:02,099 Speaker 1: Paints that were dark brown, creams, and whites. 152 00:12:03,979 --> 00:12:07,179 Speaker 2: She also kind of made some extended brushes on the 153 00:12:07,259 --> 00:12:10,659 Speaker 2: ends of sticks to help herself be able to be 154 00:12:10,819 --> 00:12:15,059 Speaker 2: painting at this height to create these very sum assaulting, 155 00:12:15,459 --> 00:12:27,299 Speaker 2: arcing marks across the canvas. She's working on a huge scale. 156 00:12:28,019 --> 00:12:30,979 Speaker 1: We can imagine how as she moved the brush in 157 00:12:31,019 --> 00:12:34,939 Speaker 1: that dimly lit barn, she felt the tension begin to lift. 158 00:12:36,339 --> 00:12:38,659 Speaker 1: As long as she was there, she didn't have to 159 00:12:38,699 --> 00:12:41,499 Speaker 1: think about anything else other than painting. 160 00:12:46,099 --> 00:12:49,179 Speaker 2: I think anyone who's ever been a night owl and 161 00:12:49,299 --> 00:12:53,859 Speaker 2: found themselves working late into the night can sympathize with 162 00:12:54,579 --> 00:12:59,219 Speaker 2: that particular kind of experience of making something when it 163 00:12:59,259 --> 00:13:03,219 Speaker 2: feels like the whole world is asleep, a feeling of 164 00:13:03,259 --> 00:13:07,339 Speaker 2: being kind of cloaked in your subjectivity, in yourself, and 165 00:13:07,419 --> 00:13:12,779 Speaker 2: there being an extra andary heightened sense of intimacy to 166 00:13:12,859 --> 00:13:13,459 Speaker 2: that moment. 167 00:13:16,019 --> 00:13:19,019 Speaker 1: And in those moments Lee felt like she could do 168 00:13:19,099 --> 00:13:22,779 Speaker 1: what was impossible during the day. 169 00:13:23,979 --> 00:13:31,939 Speaker 2: She's processing, she's really wrestling with herself. She wants to 170 00:13:31,979 --> 00:13:35,699 Speaker 2: go down deep into whatever this murky space is, and 171 00:13:35,739 --> 00:13:38,699 Speaker 2: she says I was going down deep into something that 172 00:13:38,899 --> 00:13:40,659 Speaker 2: wasn't easy or pleasant. 173 00:13:42,099 --> 00:13:45,859 Speaker 1: These paintings would later come to be called her Night Journeys. 174 00:13:47,299 --> 00:13:53,259 Speaker 2: These are enormous paintings, and they're incredibly invigorating on the 175 00:13:53,299 --> 00:13:58,259 Speaker 2: one hand, feeling very feathery and light, but they also 176 00:13:58,419 --> 00:14:01,019 Speaker 2: have a kind of violence and roughness. 177 00:14:06,379 --> 00:14:09,979 Speaker 1: I first saw these paintings in Eleanor's lee Quasm exhibition. 178 00:14:12,739 --> 00:14:16,699 Speaker 1: They had a powerful effect on me, Hanging on the 179 00:14:16,739 --> 00:14:19,459 Speaker 1: wall under low light, just like they would have been 180 00:14:19,579 --> 00:14:33,539 Speaker 1: in lies Bonn. They felt to me, like a visual exorcism. 181 00:14:33,659 --> 00:14:35,579 Speaker 2: I was thinking about it just the other day. An 182 00:14:35,659 --> 00:14:38,979 Speaker 2: artist's friend of mine was talking about the idea of 183 00:14:39,539 --> 00:14:43,819 Speaker 2: what it is to experience rock bottom, and how in 184 00:14:43,859 --> 00:14:50,299 Speaker 2: those moments of emotional or psychic collapse or unraveling, we 185 00:14:50,419 --> 00:14:54,899 Speaker 2: could be feeling a sense of exhilaration because they're so 186 00:14:55,179 --> 00:15:00,619 Speaker 2: often followed by some kind of reawakening or reconfiguring. Often 187 00:15:00,659 --> 00:15:05,339 Speaker 2: there needs to be some degree of collapse before phoenix 188 00:15:05,419 --> 00:15:06,899 Speaker 2: can rise from the ashes. 189 00:15:08,419 --> 00:15:11,699 Speaker 1: And out of this period of so much grief, depression, 190 00:15:11,819 --> 00:15:15,859 Speaker 1: and insomnia came something extraordinary. 191 00:15:18,139 --> 00:15:24,459 Speaker 2: The most accomplished work of her career, extraordinary lyrical, vibrant, 192 00:15:24,739 --> 00:15:26,299 Speaker 2: luscious paintings. 193 00:15:26,859 --> 00:15:32,699 Speaker 1: And this time they're bursting with color, crimson and white, 194 00:15:33,099 --> 00:15:37,819 Speaker 1: electric pink and orange blues, still on that big scale, 195 00:15:38,299 --> 00:15:46,579 Speaker 1: but looser, freer, bright and joyful, And these paintings they're 196 00:15:46,619 --> 00:15:52,019 Speaker 1: getting recognized. During the sixties and seventies, Lee would show 197 00:15:52,099 --> 00:15:55,579 Speaker 1: in a steady stream of exhibitions in London and New York, 198 00:15:59,099 --> 00:16:01,939 Speaker 1: but there was one thing she wanted more than anything. 199 00:16:03,579 --> 00:16:08,339 Speaker 2: By the early nineteen eighties, Krasner definitely came to think 200 00:16:08,499 --> 00:16:12,899 Speaker 2: about what her career had amounted to and how and 201 00:16:13,019 --> 00:16:16,619 Speaker 2: when she might receive the kind of level of institutional 202 00:16:16,739 --> 00:16:20,299 Speaker 2: recognition that would ensure her place in history. 203 00:16:21,139 --> 00:16:24,659 Speaker 1: For so many years now, Lee had been frustrated that 204 00:16:24,779 --> 00:16:27,379 Speaker 1: she had never had a full solo show in her 205 00:16:27,419 --> 00:16:31,259 Speaker 1: home city. In the late seventies, she had vented her 206 00:16:31,299 --> 00:16:35,419 Speaker 1: frustration in an interview, saying, do you realize that to date, 207 00:16:35,779 --> 00:16:39,099 Speaker 1: no goddamn museum in New York City, where I have 208 00:16:39,219 --> 00:16:42,419 Speaker 1: been born and bred, where I fought the battle, no 209 00:16:42,619 --> 00:16:49,699 Speaker 1: museum has given me a retrospective that's coming up after 210 00:16:49,739 --> 00:16:59,099 Speaker 1: the break. It's the summer of nineteen eighty three, and 211 00:16:59,179 --> 00:17:03,299 Speaker 1: Lee Krasner is seventy four years old. She's been unwell 212 00:17:03,379 --> 00:17:07,379 Speaker 1: for a while arthritis, and mainly uses a wheelchair to 213 00:17:07,379 --> 00:17:14,259 Speaker 1: get around. Lately, There's something she's been dwelling on. Lee 214 00:17:14,459 --> 00:17:17,659 Speaker 1: was sitting in her house and Springs, listening closely to 215 00:17:17,739 --> 00:17:20,099 Speaker 1: a friend as he read from the catalog of a 216 00:17:20,179 --> 00:17:25,099 Speaker 1: fourthcoming big solo show. It contained details of a whole 217 00:17:25,419 --> 00:17:29,659 Speaker 1: life in art. As she listened to one line in particular, 218 00:17:30,259 --> 00:17:37,459 Speaker 1: she allowed herself a smile. A life lived richly, organically, authentically, 219 00:17:37,579 --> 00:17:41,819 Speaker 1: and bravely expressed in an art one could describe in 220 00:17:41,859 --> 00:17:46,299 Speaker 1: the same manner this show. It was hers. 221 00:17:47,339 --> 00:17:49,859 Speaker 2: It's not small, you know. There are one hundred and 222 00:17:49,939 --> 00:17:54,259 Speaker 2: fifty works across paintings and works on paper in this exhibition. 223 00:17:54,659 --> 00:17:57,459 Speaker 2: There's a publication to accompany it. There's a press release 224 00:17:57,499 --> 00:17:59,379 Speaker 2: that goes out. It's an event. 225 00:18:00,779 --> 00:18:03,819 Speaker 1: It was set to open on the twenty seventh of October, 226 00:18:04,219 --> 00:18:09,059 Speaker 1: her seventy fifth birthday. It would begin in Houston, Texas, 227 00:18:09,459 --> 00:18:15,779 Speaker 1: before traveling to other museums across the country, including in California, Virginia, 228 00:18:15,819 --> 00:18:21,179 Speaker 1: and Arizona. And this exhibition would tell her story going 229 00:18:21,339 --> 00:18:24,699 Speaker 1: right back to those early days when she was experimenting 230 00:18:24,859 --> 00:18:27,819 Speaker 1: with modern art before she met Jackson. 231 00:18:28,699 --> 00:18:31,539 Speaker 2: It meant so much to her to know that this 232 00:18:31,739 --> 00:18:35,699 Speaker 2: body of work would be traveling between these American museums 233 00:18:35,739 --> 00:18:39,819 Speaker 2: and audiences would be able to appreciate that she was 234 00:18:39,939 --> 00:18:43,219 Speaker 2: one of the pioneers of abstract expressionism. She was one 235 00:18:43,219 --> 00:18:49,459 Speaker 2: of the first women to be really thinking about how 236 00:18:49,499 --> 00:18:52,979 Speaker 2: to express herself abstractly in this period of modern art 237 00:18:52,979 --> 00:18:55,779 Speaker 2: in America. 238 00:18:56,539 --> 00:18:59,339 Speaker 1: There was one bit of news that topped it all though, 239 00:19:00,099 --> 00:19:03,259 Speaker 1: in December of nineteen eighty four, it was going to 240 00:19:03,299 --> 00:19:06,339 Speaker 1: be shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New 241 00:19:06,419 --> 00:19:11,459 Speaker 1: York City. For Lee, this was the jewel in the crown. 242 00:19:13,299 --> 00:19:17,579 Speaker 2: Is momentous. She had been at the Modern when it 243 00:19:17,739 --> 00:19:20,779 Speaker 2: opened in the nineteen twenties, when she was twenty one 244 00:19:20,859 --> 00:19:24,299 Speaker 2: years old. She had seen those first exhibitions. 245 00:19:25,819 --> 00:19:29,259 Speaker 1: Think all the way back to episode two of our series, 246 00:19:29,459 --> 00:19:32,779 Speaker 1: when Lee was just making her way as a young artist, 247 00:19:33,259 --> 00:19:38,419 Speaker 1: when those visits to MoMA transformed everything. Here's Lee. 248 00:19:38,619 --> 00:19:40,539 Speaker 2: A group of us went down and saw this, and 249 00:19:40,619 --> 00:19:42,499 Speaker 2: that really hit like an explosion. 250 00:19:42,699 --> 00:19:48,779 Speaker 1: It was like a bonab and that disploaded. Finally, Lee 251 00:19:48,979 --> 00:19:51,899 Speaker 1: was getting her wish and at the museum that meant 252 00:19:51,939 --> 00:19:53,419 Speaker 1: the most for her. 253 00:19:54,259 --> 00:19:58,619 Speaker 2: This was the most important institution to her, and it 254 00:19:58,699 --> 00:19:59,699 Speaker 2: was her home turf. 255 00:20:06,979 --> 00:20:10,219 Speaker 1: Incredibly, she was still trying to work when she wasn't 256 00:20:10,259 --> 00:20:14,779 Speaker 1: in completely unbearable pain. But by the early months of 257 00:20:14,899 --> 00:20:19,259 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four, Lee's health had further deteriorated and she 258 00:20:19,379 --> 00:20:23,419 Speaker 1: was being treated in hospital, mainly staying in her apartment 259 00:20:23,659 --> 00:20:27,459 Speaker 1: in Manhattan waiting for her big New York show. 260 00:20:31,059 --> 00:20:34,739 Speaker 2: I mean, it was incredibly significant. It was a chance 261 00:20:35,059 --> 00:20:38,059 Speaker 2: for visitors and for critics to be able to really 262 00:20:38,219 --> 00:20:42,139 Speaker 2: come and appreciate this full arc of her career. And 263 00:20:42,179 --> 00:20:46,099 Speaker 2: because she was somebody who cycled through these very different 264 00:20:46,179 --> 00:20:50,019 Speaker 2: painterly styles. It's especially important with her to see a 265 00:20:50,099 --> 00:20:51,939 Speaker 2: larger body of work. 266 00:20:53,339 --> 00:20:56,419 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty four. It was also a huge deal 267 00:20:56,539 --> 00:20:59,139 Speaker 1: for a female artist to be given a show like this. 268 00:21:00,459 --> 00:21:04,459 Speaker 1: Lee's big MoMA exhibition opened on the nineteenth of December 269 00:21:04,739 --> 00:21:10,099 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four. It was called Lee Krasner a Prospective, 270 00:21:10,539 --> 00:21:13,299 Speaker 1: and the New York Art world braved the winter chill 271 00:21:13,459 --> 00:21:16,259 Speaker 1: to gather on opening night to honor Lee. 272 00:21:17,659 --> 00:21:23,939 Speaker 2: I cannot emphasize enough how seismic an achievement it was 273 00:21:24,059 --> 00:21:26,979 Speaker 2: for Lee Krasner to have a retrospective at the Museum 274 00:21:27,019 --> 00:21:30,499 Speaker 2: of Whatnot in nineteen eighty four. Krasner would have been 275 00:21:30,579 --> 00:21:33,419 Speaker 2: maybe the fourth or fifth woman ever in the history 276 00:21:33,459 --> 00:21:34,299 Speaker 2: of that institution. 277 00:21:35,779 --> 00:21:38,059 Speaker 1: But Lee herself was not there. 278 00:21:39,139 --> 00:21:41,019 Speaker 2: She passed away six months before. 279 00:21:42,499 --> 00:21:45,939 Speaker 1: Lee had died on the nineteenth of June, so she 280 00:21:46,099 --> 00:21:49,779 Speaker 1: died knowing that it would come, but unable to be 281 00:21:49,899 --> 00:21:59,939 Speaker 1: there in body. In twenty nineteen Eleanor organized an exhibition 282 00:22:00,059 --> 00:22:03,659 Speaker 1: of Lee's work at the Barbican Art Gallery. I remember 283 00:22:03,779 --> 00:22:06,939 Speaker 1: arriving a day before opening night at the press preview, 284 00:22:07,299 --> 00:22:10,579 Speaker 1: walking into the vast airy gallery through a frenzy of 285 00:22:10,699 --> 00:22:16,619 Speaker 1: journalists and TV crews. I was stunned by an array 286 00:22:16,739 --> 00:22:23,899 Speaker 1: of colorful, abstract paintings. I hardly knew anything about this artist, 287 00:22:23,939 --> 00:22:26,779 Speaker 1: and I'd never seen an exhibition of hers in person before. 288 00:22:27,539 --> 00:22:30,299 Speaker 1: But one of the first paintings to really draw my 289 00:22:30,379 --> 00:22:33,619 Speaker 1: eye was at the very start of the show. And 290 00:22:33,699 --> 00:22:37,899 Speaker 1: it wasn't an abstract. It was a self portrait, one 291 00:22:37,939 --> 00:22:41,539 Speaker 1: that she started painting when she was just nineteen, a 292 00:22:41,579 --> 00:22:45,139 Speaker 1: few years younger than I was at the time. It's 293 00:22:45,259 --> 00:22:49,299 Speaker 1: Lee standing in front of a forest, wearing a paint 294 00:22:49,339 --> 00:22:53,779 Speaker 1: stained pinafore over a sky blue shirt, brushes in hand. 295 00:22:56,099 --> 00:22:58,979 Speaker 1: The canvas she's painting on is off to one side 296 00:22:59,379 --> 00:23:02,059 Speaker 1: but facing away from us, so we can't see what's 297 00:23:02,099 --> 00:23:07,539 Speaker 1: on it. So the main event becomes Lee herself, staring 298 00:23:07,659 --> 00:23:11,099 Speaker 1: right out at us with a folk determined gaze that 299 00:23:11,259 --> 00:23:16,459 Speaker 1: stops you in your tracks. To me, it feels like 300 00:23:16,499 --> 00:23:21,579 Speaker 1: a one image mission statement. It says, look at me, 301 00:23:22,259 --> 00:23:24,939 Speaker 1: I am an artist, and I am going to succeed. 302 00:23:26,299 --> 00:23:32,699 Speaker 1: Deal with it. I want my independence, deal with it. 303 00:23:32,819 --> 00:23:35,699 Speaker 1: I want to make my own statement. Damn well, deal 304 00:23:35,739 --> 00:23:53,779 Speaker 1: with it. Death of an Artist. Krasner and Pollock is 305 00:23:53,859 --> 00:23:58,819 Speaker 1: produced by Pushkin Industries and Samasdat Audio. Clem Hitchcock is 306 00:23:58,819 --> 00:24:04,019 Speaker 1: our producer. Story editing by Dasha Lissitzina, Sophie Crane and 307 00:24:04,179 --> 00:24:09,299 Speaker 1: Karen Shakerji from Pushkin. The executive producer is Jacob Smith 308 00:24:09,899 --> 00:24:15,059 Speaker 1: from Samasdad Audio. The executive producers are Dasha Lissitsina and 309 00:24:15,219 --> 00:24:20,579 Speaker 1: Joe Sykes. Sound design by Peregrine Andrews. Original scoring and 310 00:24:20,699 --> 00:24:24,779 Speaker 1: our theme were composed by Martin Austvik. Fact checking by 311 00:24:24,899 --> 00:24:30,419 Speaker 1: Arthur Gompertz. Special thanks to Mary Gabriel, Jacqueline Bogard World, 312 00:24:30,739 --> 00:24:36,459 Speaker 1: Audrey Flack, Alexander Stiller, Helen Harrison and Elena Nen at Pushkin. 313 00:24:36,859 --> 00:24:43,379 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Eric Sandler, Kira Posey, Jordan McMillan, Anna Scrabatz, 314 00:24:43,739 --> 00:24:50,579 Speaker 1: Greta Cone, Sarah Nix, Jake Flanagan, Carrie Brodie and Jacob Weisberg. 315 00:24:52,899 --> 00:24:54,059 Speaker 1: I'm Katie Hessel.