1 00:00:15,539 --> 00:00:31,859 Speaker 1: Pushkin. It's winter nineteen thirty six in New York. A 2 00:00:31,939 --> 00:00:39,499 Speaker 1: party is in full swing and everyone is having a good. 3 00:00:39,299 --> 00:00:43,779 Speaker 2: Time drinking and dancing. 4 00:00:44,259 --> 00:00:47,019 Speaker 3: The cigarette smoke was so dense they could barely see 5 00:00:47,019 --> 00:00:47,379 Speaker 3: each other. 6 00:00:48,699 --> 00:00:52,379 Speaker 1: The place is full of artists wearing patched up woolen 7 00:00:52,419 --> 00:00:56,099 Speaker 1: suits and cheap sequin dresses, driving as fast as they 8 00:00:56,139 --> 00:01:01,659 Speaker 1: can just to keep warm. This is Mary Gabriel, who 9 00:01:01,659 --> 00:01:02,979 Speaker 1: wrote Ninth Street Women. 10 00:01:03,779 --> 00:01:06,339 Speaker 3: Life outside and the streets was difficult because it was 11 00:01:06,379 --> 00:01:10,259 Speaker 3: still the Depression. Life inside their studios was difficult, but 12 00:01:10,379 --> 00:01:12,419 Speaker 3: inside their dance hall they could let it all go. 13 00:01:18,099 --> 00:01:21,139 Speaker 3: They would buy bottles of booze, get together and have 14 00:01:21,299 --> 00:01:22,779 Speaker 3: just a raucous good time. 15 00:01:27,179 --> 00:01:29,619 Speaker 1: In the middle of the crowd is a woman in 16 00:01:29,659 --> 00:01:35,379 Speaker 1: her late twenties, short bob net stockings, heels. She's effortlessly 17 00:01:35,499 --> 00:01:42,499 Speaker 1: dancing rings around everyone else. Lee Krasner has got rhythm. 18 00:01:42,579 --> 00:01:44,419 Speaker 3: Dancing was one of the passions of her life, and 19 00:01:44,419 --> 00:01:45,659 Speaker 3: she took it very seriously. 20 00:01:46,899 --> 00:01:50,539 Speaker 1: Lee knows she's turning heads, and not just because of 21 00:01:50,539 --> 00:01:57,579 Speaker 1: her quick feet. Lee's painting had got people's attention. Even 22 00:01:57,739 --> 00:02:00,939 Speaker 1: in art classes, other students would keep their eye on 23 00:02:00,939 --> 00:02:01,619 Speaker 1: what Lee was. 24 00:02:01,579 --> 00:02:09,019 Speaker 3: Doing while she was on the dance floor. A young 25 00:02:09,059 --> 00:02:12,899 Speaker 3: man stumbled into her mumbled something about wanting to dance. 26 00:02:13,379 --> 00:02:15,139 Speaker 1: She looks up skeptically. 27 00:02:15,499 --> 00:02:18,979 Speaker 3: A handsome young man, muscular, someone Lee might have actually 28 00:02:19,059 --> 00:02:19,859 Speaker 3: been attracted to. 29 00:02:20,619 --> 00:02:23,779 Speaker 1: She's never seen him before, must be new on the scene, 30 00:02:24,219 --> 00:02:25,859 Speaker 1: but he's kind of hot type. 31 00:02:26,139 --> 00:02:29,739 Speaker 3: Until he stepped on her feet, burped in her face, 32 00:02:30,059 --> 00:02:33,219 Speaker 3: and ended his dance floor seduction with the question do 33 00:02:33,259 --> 00:02:34,059 Speaker 3: you like to fuck? 34 00:02:36,899 --> 00:02:38,899 Speaker 2: Lee pushed him away and that was the end of that. 35 00:02:40,459 --> 00:02:43,699 Speaker 1: But that's not the last she'll see of him, not quite. 36 00:02:44,579 --> 00:02:48,259 Speaker 1: In five years time, she'll meet him again, and this time, 37 00:02:48,579 --> 00:02:51,059 Speaker 1: to everyone's surprise, they fool in love. 38 00:02:52,939 --> 00:02:54,819 Speaker 3: Her friends didn't really know what to make of them. 39 00:02:54,859 --> 00:02:58,299 Speaker 3: Some of them thought he wasn't worthy of Lee, that 40 00:02:58,379 --> 00:03:01,139 Speaker 3: he didn't have the personality, that his art wasn't good enough. 41 00:03:02,459 --> 00:03:07,059 Speaker 3: She was the center of the scene. She was almost 42 00:03:07,059 --> 00:03:11,339 Speaker 3: seen as doing him a favor by producing him. 43 00:03:11,459 --> 00:03:15,579 Speaker 4: Jackson Pollock my husband, who was ghastly and stepped all 44 00:03:15,739 --> 00:03:16,379 Speaker 4: over these. 45 00:03:17,379 --> 00:03:20,979 Speaker 1: This is Lee Krasner talking about her first meeting with 46 00:03:21,059 --> 00:03:21,579 Speaker 1: her husband. 47 00:03:22,059 --> 00:03:25,659 Speaker 4: Any time my name comes up as an artist, it's 48 00:03:25,699 --> 00:03:29,339 Speaker 4: how it's in relation with Jackson Pobin, who the hell 49 00:03:29,339 --> 00:03:33,499 Speaker 4: else has ever related to Jackson Pollock. Lee Krasner is 50 00:03:33,499 --> 00:03:37,539 Speaker 4: always compared to Pollock, and the cliche it's Lee is 51 00:03:37,939 --> 00:03:40,979 Speaker 4: beshadowed back her husband, and that's it's easy and we 52 00:03:41,019 --> 00:03:42,019 Speaker 4: don't have to think about that. 53 00:03:44,859 --> 00:03:49,819 Speaker 1: But it wasn't always like that. In this episode, we're 54 00:03:49,859 --> 00:03:52,619 Speaker 1: going to go back to a time when Jackson Pollock 55 00:03:53,019 --> 00:03:58,179 Speaker 1: was overshadowed by Lee Krasner, when Jackson was a nobody 56 00:03:58,499 --> 00:04:02,179 Speaker 1: and Lee was the one to watch. It's the story 57 00:04:02,219 --> 00:04:05,459 Speaker 1: of how, at the beginning of the twentieth century, a 58 00:04:05,499 --> 00:04:09,379 Speaker 1: young Jewish girl from Brooklyn created a new kind of 59 00:04:09,499 --> 00:04:16,019 Speaker 1: art America had never seen before. I'm Katie Hessel, and 60 00:04:16,099 --> 00:04:22,379 Speaker 1: this is Death of an Artist Krasner and Pollock Episode two, 61 00:04:23,379 --> 00:04:31,859 Speaker 1: Inner Rhythm. Here is Lee Krasner talking about her early 62 00:04:31,899 --> 00:04:34,619 Speaker 1: life in an interview from the nineteen seventies. 63 00:04:35,419 --> 00:04:37,619 Speaker 5: My whole background is one way. 64 00:04:37,619 --> 00:04:40,259 Speaker 4: I don't have encouragement right from the beginning, So this 65 00:04:40,299 --> 00:04:44,939 Speaker 4: is another tough nut to crack. Okay, itself imposed, and 66 00:04:45,059 --> 00:04:46,059 Speaker 4: I'm aware of that. 67 00:04:47,579 --> 00:04:51,379 Speaker 1: She was born Lena Krasner in nineteen oh eight, the 68 00:04:51,499 --> 00:04:55,539 Speaker 1: daughter of Orthodox Jewish immigrants. Her family had fled the 69 00:04:55,579 --> 00:04:59,419 Speaker 1: pogroms in Eastern Europe. With four young children, they moved 70 00:04:59,419 --> 00:05:03,179 Speaker 1: to Brownsville, Brooklyn, and less than a year later Lena 71 00:05:03,299 --> 00:05:07,819 Speaker 1: was born. The Krasners made a living selling fish, fruit 72 00:05:07,979 --> 00:05:13,339 Speaker 1: and vegetables at a local At home, they spoke Yiddish, Hebrew, 73 00:05:13,419 --> 00:05:18,059 Speaker 1: and Russian, with a smattering of English, and regularly attended synagogue. 74 00:05:19,299 --> 00:05:23,419 Speaker 1: Lena hated synagogue. She couldn't understand why the women and 75 00:05:23,499 --> 00:05:29,659 Speaker 1: men couldn't sit together, why there were so many rules. Instead, 76 00:05:30,179 --> 00:05:33,899 Speaker 1: Lenna spent her free time copying fashion ads from newspapers 77 00:05:34,139 --> 00:05:38,499 Speaker 1: and reading Edgar Allan Poe. She already had a sense 78 00:05:38,699 --> 00:05:43,219 Speaker 1: that Brownsville was not the life of her She wanted 79 00:05:43,379 --> 00:05:44,019 Speaker 1: something else. 80 00:05:45,019 --> 00:05:49,019 Speaker 4: I'm graduating from elementary school and one had to indicate 81 00:05:49,579 --> 00:05:52,459 Speaker 4: what you wanted to major in. And for some reason 82 00:05:52,539 --> 00:05:57,259 Speaker 4: which to date has not been explained, including a couple 83 00:05:57,259 --> 00:06:00,899 Speaker 4: of years of analysis, I chose the word art. Don't 84 00:06:00,939 --> 00:06:05,099 Speaker 4: ask me why. There was nothing in my environment that 85 00:06:05,259 --> 00:06:08,779 Speaker 4: I can think of now that would have produced this. 86 00:06:11,699 --> 00:06:15,179 Speaker 1: She watched as her older sisters married nice Jewish boys, 87 00:06:15,619 --> 00:06:18,659 Speaker 1: stayed in the neighborhood and helped with the family business. 88 00:06:19,419 --> 00:06:24,139 Speaker 1: And then, in nineteen twenty eight, when Lee was nineteen something, 89 00:06:24,219 --> 00:06:30,659 Speaker 1: happened that rocked the family. Her older sister Rose died 90 00:06:31,259 --> 00:06:34,459 Speaker 1: and according to the tradition of their community, Lenna was 91 00:06:34,499 --> 00:06:39,419 Speaker 1: required to marry Rose's widower, but she refused. The duty 92 00:06:39,499 --> 00:06:43,139 Speaker 1: fell to her younger sister, and before too long, Lena 93 00:06:43,219 --> 00:06:46,899 Speaker 1: would leave home and change her name to Lee, becoming 94 00:06:47,139 --> 00:06:54,259 Speaker 1: Lee Krasner, shorter, more chic, and crucially more American, ready 95 00:06:54,459 --> 00:06:56,059 Speaker 1: to make a new life for herself. 96 00:06:57,299 --> 00:06:59,819 Speaker 4: I want my independence. Deal with them. 97 00:07:00,619 --> 00:07:02,179 Speaker 6: I want to make my own statement. 98 00:07:02,499 --> 00:07:04,979 Speaker 4: Damn well, deal with it now. 99 00:07:05,019 --> 00:07:09,179 Speaker 5: I haven't the patience for a time to deal with now, 100 00:07:09,419 --> 00:07:12,739 Speaker 5: go aheads who I don't know how many years behind me. 101 00:07:12,819 --> 00:07:17,099 Speaker 5: And that's true as of today. 102 00:07:17,939 --> 00:07:21,819 Speaker 1: Picture the scene. It's nineteen twenty eight and she is 103 00:07:21,859 --> 00:07:25,259 Speaker 1: in an airy, chalky room in Manhattan, wearing a smock, 104 00:07:25,579 --> 00:07:29,259 Speaker 1: sketching a nude. She has made it to New York's 105 00:07:29,259 --> 00:07:33,499 Speaker 1: most prestigious art college, the National Academy of Design. 106 00:07:33,579 --> 00:07:35,699 Speaker 2: Was very tradition bound. 107 00:07:36,059 --> 00:07:37,779 Speaker 1: This is Mary Gabriel. 108 00:07:38,019 --> 00:07:40,619 Speaker 3: She and her fellow students worked from a nude model 109 00:07:41,139 --> 00:07:45,419 Speaker 3: Anna Stand in a classical pose, with very rigid rules 110 00:07:45,459 --> 00:07:47,699 Speaker 3: about what could and could not be drawn and how 111 00:07:47,739 --> 00:07:50,059 Speaker 3: it should and should be drawn. It was actually the 112 00:07:50,059 --> 00:07:52,339 Speaker 3: opposite of what creative freedom was about. 113 00:07:52,619 --> 00:07:55,739 Speaker 1: So this place was not like the art schools of today. 114 00:07:56,139 --> 00:07:58,979 Speaker 1: It did not encourage you to discover your inner voice 115 00:07:59,339 --> 00:08:02,859 Speaker 1: or to express yourself. You went to the National Academy 116 00:08:02,939 --> 00:08:07,179 Speaker 1: to train for a future of painting commissions, landscapes, portraits, 117 00:08:07,339 --> 00:08:08,939 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff in museums. 118 00:08:08,979 --> 00:08:14,419 Speaker 3: Against in fact, were largely palaces of artifacts. They were 119 00:08:14,539 --> 00:08:17,419 Speaker 3: historical places. They weren't places where there was living art. 120 00:08:17,819 --> 00:08:20,979 Speaker 1: So Lee had finally got out of Brooklyn and made 121 00:08:20,979 --> 00:08:23,979 Speaker 1: it to the big city. But she now found herself 122 00:08:24,019 --> 00:08:27,939 Speaker 1: sketching plaster casts of Greek statues and carefully arranged fruit 123 00:08:28,019 --> 00:08:32,619 Speaker 1: and flowers. It was all well, quite traditional, certainly not 124 00:08:32,779 --> 00:08:36,979 Speaker 1: what she left her old world behind for. Lee became restless. 125 00:08:37,659 --> 00:08:40,179 Speaker 1: A note on her record card from the school states, 126 00:08:40,539 --> 00:08:44,059 Speaker 1: this student is always a bother insists upon having her 127 00:08:44,099 --> 00:08:48,819 Speaker 1: own way despite school rules. Lee wanted to make a 128 00:08:48,899 --> 00:08:52,739 Speaker 1: different kind of art, something that could make her feel alive. 129 00:08:53,659 --> 00:08:56,459 Speaker 1: She was just not quite sure what that looked like yet. 130 00:08:57,979 --> 00:09:04,699 Speaker 1: But about a year later, Lee got her answer. One 131 00:09:04,779 --> 00:09:09,139 Speaker 1: afternoon in November nineteen twenty nine, Lee and her classmates 132 00:09:09,139 --> 00:09:12,499 Speaker 1: were walking down Fifth Avenue. They were on their way 133 00:09:12,659 --> 00:09:15,899 Speaker 1: to the opening of a new gallery called the Modern 134 00:09:16,419 --> 00:09:19,659 Speaker 1: now known as the Museum of Modern Art or MoMA, 135 00:09:21,779 --> 00:09:24,899 Speaker 1: on the corner of fifty seventh Street. Lee walked into 136 00:09:24,899 --> 00:09:29,539 Speaker 1: a skyscraper and into a fancy lobby. She took an 137 00:09:29,579 --> 00:09:34,139 Speaker 1: elevator up past the interior designers and magazine offices, all 138 00:09:34,179 --> 00:09:41,659 Speaker 1: the way up to the twelfth floor. She saw walls 139 00:09:41,859 --> 00:09:47,339 Speaker 1: covered in dazzling kaleidoscopic colours, shapes and lines dancing from 140 00:09:47,459 --> 00:09:51,939 Speaker 1: edge to edge, rich thick textures like nothing she'd ever 141 00:09:52,019 --> 00:09:52,779 Speaker 1: seen before. 142 00:09:53,539 --> 00:09:56,179 Speaker 3: It took her breath away. It literally moved the earth 143 00:09:56,259 --> 00:09:58,779 Speaker 3: underneath her. And what she saw on the walls of 144 00:09:58,779 --> 00:10:01,699 Speaker 3: that museum was pure freedom. 145 00:10:01,779 --> 00:10:04,939 Speaker 1: A summer's day on a riverbank, made up of thousands 146 00:10:05,019 --> 00:10:09,699 Speaker 1: of colorful dots, A still life with apples, composed of 147 00:10:09,779 --> 00:10:14,979 Speaker 1: jagged shapes, landscapes of sun flowers with swirling paint strokes. 148 00:10:18,179 --> 00:10:23,659 Speaker 1: These were paintings by Suzanne van Goff Gogan Sura, showing 149 00:10:23,899 --> 00:10:27,699 Speaker 1: in the first ever museum devoted to modern art in 150 00:10:27,819 --> 00:10:35,459 Speaker 1: New York City. Today, these paintings are uber famous. They're 151 00:10:35,459 --> 00:10:40,539 Speaker 1: on mugs, t shirts, posters, But imagine being Lee Krasner 152 00:10:41,139 --> 00:10:43,419 Speaker 1: seeing them here for the first time. 153 00:10:43,779 --> 00:10:45,699 Speaker 4: A group of us went down and saw this, and 154 00:10:45,779 --> 00:10:48,739 Speaker 4: that really hit like an explosion with like a barnaby, 155 00:10:48,819 --> 00:10:49,579 Speaker 4: and that disclouded. 156 00:10:50,659 --> 00:10:53,659 Speaker 1: These works defied everything that had come before. 157 00:10:54,299 --> 00:10:56,819 Speaker 3: Suddenly a painting no longer had to be something. They 158 00:10:56,819 --> 00:10:58,539 Speaker 3: had depicted something, or at. 159 00:10:58,539 --> 00:11:02,099 Speaker 1: Least not realistically. That was not the aim here. 160 00:11:02,499 --> 00:11:05,219 Speaker 3: It could be about how the brushstrokes were made, how 161 00:11:05,659 --> 00:11:08,499 Speaker 3: colors played off each other. It was about the act 162 00:11:08,539 --> 00:11:12,539 Speaker 3: of painting, much less than what was on the canvas itself. 163 00:11:13,579 --> 00:11:16,099 Speaker 3: It was absolutely a revolutionist. 164 00:11:23,819 --> 00:11:26,739 Speaker 1: Even I remember learning about these artists for the first 165 00:11:26,739 --> 00:11:30,179 Speaker 1: time and being stunned by the blazes of color I'd 166 00:11:30,179 --> 00:11:33,419 Speaker 1: see on a gallery wall. How they distorted all sense 167 00:11:33,459 --> 00:11:36,859 Speaker 1: of realism made at the stroke of the twentieth century, 168 00:11:37,179 --> 00:11:40,899 Speaker 1: they marked the start of tearing the image apart. These 169 00:11:40,939 --> 00:11:45,379 Speaker 1: works are part of a style called post Impressionism. Impressionism 170 00:11:45,459 --> 00:11:48,539 Speaker 1: had occurred a few decades before, in the eighteen seventies 171 00:11:48,579 --> 00:11:51,379 Speaker 1: in Paris, and was a style that was all about 172 00:11:51,419 --> 00:11:55,019 Speaker 1: creating an impression of something as opposed to the real thing. 173 00:11:55,579 --> 00:11:58,299 Speaker 1: At the dawn of a new century, artists began to 174 00:11:58,339 --> 00:12:01,139 Speaker 1: move further away from the real image and use color 175 00:12:01,219 --> 00:12:05,139 Speaker 1: to express their inner emotions. Then Cubism came along with 176 00:12:05,139 --> 00:12:09,099 Speaker 1: its sharp edges and lines, breaking down any inkling of perspective. 177 00:12:09,979 --> 00:12:13,459 Speaker 1: And now suddenly all of this had arrived in New 178 00:12:13,539 --> 00:12:14,059 Speaker 1: York City. 179 00:12:15,899 --> 00:12:18,579 Speaker 3: It was like a meteorite had hit the United States 180 00:12:18,579 --> 00:12:23,059 Speaker 3: and left behind thousands of pieces of art that changed 181 00:12:23,419 --> 00:12:26,179 Speaker 3: profoundly the way people considered what a painting was. 182 00:12:26,459 --> 00:12:30,019 Speaker 1: What Lee saw that day and in future visits changed 183 00:12:30,059 --> 00:12:32,139 Speaker 1: the way she looked at the world and the way 184 00:12:32,219 --> 00:12:37,219 Speaker 1: she painted forever. Lee and her whole art class rushed 185 00:12:37,259 --> 00:12:37,819 Speaker 1: back to their. 186 00:12:37,739 --> 00:12:42,979 Speaker 3: School, stormed into the classroom, tore apart the model's stand 187 00:12:43,019 --> 00:12:44,899 Speaker 3: that had been set up for them to draw from, 188 00:12:45,379 --> 00:12:49,419 Speaker 3: and basically declared a revolution. They took the model, and 189 00:12:49,579 --> 00:12:52,779 Speaker 3: rather than draw a nude model, they put clothing on 190 00:12:53,379 --> 00:12:58,899 Speaker 3: the model, which injected a sense of modernism to this tradition. 191 00:13:00,019 --> 00:13:02,859 Speaker 1: Not a big deal, you'd think, but their teacher was 192 00:13:02,939 --> 00:13:04,819 Speaker 1: not impressed his Lee. 193 00:13:05,739 --> 00:13:09,139 Speaker 4: On the first day of criticism, our instructor walked in 194 00:13:09,379 --> 00:13:12,539 Speaker 4: and did about three criticisms, then hurled the brushes of 195 00:13:13,099 --> 00:13:15,979 Speaker 4: floor and walked out of the room, saying I can't 196 00:13:16,019 --> 00:13:18,299 Speaker 4: take this class anything. 197 00:13:19,179 --> 00:13:22,659 Speaker 1: For Lee, there was no going back. She wanted to 198 00:13:22,699 --> 00:13:25,019 Speaker 1: create the kind of things she'd seen at the moment, 199 00:13:25,379 --> 00:13:29,419 Speaker 1: but make it her own more American. There was just 200 00:13:29,539 --> 00:13:31,499 Speaker 1: one big problem. 201 00:13:32,579 --> 00:13:36,379 Speaker 3: The notion of an American artist just hadn't really taken hold. 202 00:13:36,859 --> 00:13:39,819 Speaker 3: An artist was an elite, An artist was in most 203 00:13:39,819 --> 00:13:43,899 Speaker 3: cases European. Anyone who was an artist had other jobs. 204 00:13:43,899 --> 00:13:47,179 Speaker 3: They worked for companies that had art departments. 205 00:13:47,019 --> 00:13:49,139 Speaker 1: Like advertising, or they taught art. 206 00:13:49,499 --> 00:13:52,259 Speaker 3: But no one was actually a full time painter, a 207 00:13:52,299 --> 00:13:53,339 Speaker 3: full time sculptor. 208 00:13:53,939 --> 00:13:55,019 Speaker 2: It just wasn't done. 209 00:13:55,259 --> 00:13:58,259 Speaker 1: It wasn't done because you just couldn't expect to make 210 00:13:58,299 --> 00:14:00,419 Speaker 1: a living selling your own original art. 211 00:14:00,899 --> 00:14:01,779 Speaker 2: Those were the men. 212 00:14:02,019 --> 00:14:06,499 Speaker 3: For the women, it was absolutely not even a possibility 213 00:14:06,499 --> 00:14:08,979 Speaker 3: because such a thing as a woman artist in the 214 00:14:09,059 --> 00:14:11,899 Speaker 3: history of art doesn't really exist. 215 00:14:13,419 --> 00:14:17,179 Speaker 1: There wasn't a single woman in that groundbreaking exhibition Lee 216 00:14:17,259 --> 00:14:20,419 Speaker 1: went to at the moment, and it would take that 217 00:14:20,499 --> 00:14:24,699 Speaker 1: same gallery nearly twenty years to dedicate a major show 218 00:14:24,739 --> 00:14:28,179 Speaker 1: to the life of a female artist, Georgie O'Keeffe in 219 00:14:28,259 --> 00:14:32,499 Speaker 1: nineteen forty six. Lee had no role models to look 220 00:14:32,579 --> 00:14:35,819 Speaker 1: up to, let alone anyone willing to push the boundaries 221 00:14:36,059 --> 00:14:36,379 Speaker 1: like her. 222 00:14:37,339 --> 00:14:43,139 Speaker 3: For an American woman artist, especially a working class Jewish 223 00:14:43,579 --> 00:14:47,819 Speaker 3: woman like Lee, Krasner. There was just absolutely no pathway 224 00:14:47,979 --> 00:14:50,059 Speaker 3: for her to make that happen, and for her to 225 00:14:50,099 --> 00:14:53,459 Speaker 3: even declare herself an artist or someone who wanted to 226 00:14:53,499 --> 00:14:54,979 Speaker 3: be an artist was. 227 00:14:54,939 --> 00:14:56,019 Speaker 2: A laughable dream. 228 00:14:56,779 --> 00:15:03,979 Speaker 3: The idea of being an artist was really beyond the pale. 229 00:15:06,059 --> 00:15:10,299 Speaker 1: But something else happened in that momentous year eighteen twenty nine. 230 00:15:10,659 --> 00:15:13,659 Speaker 6: The tremendous crowds which you see gathered outside the Stock 231 00:15:13,739 --> 00:15:17,019 Speaker 6: Exchange are due to the greatest crash in the history 232 00:15:17,059 --> 00:15:18,739 Speaker 6: of the New York Stock Exchange and. 233 00:15:18,739 --> 00:15:22,939 Speaker 1: Market prices after the break. The story of how the 234 00:15:22,979 --> 00:15:26,859 Speaker 1: Wall Street crash and the government's response helped create the 235 00:15:26,939 --> 00:15:28,259 Speaker 1: New American Artist. 236 00:15:32,619 --> 00:15:36,019 Speaker 3: It was a cataclysm throughout the United States. The suffering 237 00:15:36,139 --> 00:15:39,299 Speaker 3: was massive. Twenty five percent of banks in the United 238 00:15:39,299 --> 00:15:42,819 Speaker 3: States folded. Quarter of the population within weeks was out 239 00:15:42,859 --> 00:15:46,379 Speaker 3: of work. Everything stabbed, the world changed. 240 00:15:47,219 --> 00:15:50,619 Speaker 1: By spring nineteen thirty two, Lee had dropped out of 241 00:15:50,619 --> 00:15:55,019 Speaker 1: the academy. She could no longer afford it. Everything she'd 242 00:15:55,059 --> 00:15:59,019 Speaker 1: been working towards was suddenly up in the air. To 243 00:15:59,099 --> 00:16:02,379 Speaker 1: make ends meet, she started waiting tables at a dive 244 00:16:02,459 --> 00:16:06,539 Speaker 1: bar in Greenwich Village, making barely enough to buy art supplies. 245 00:16:07,459 --> 00:16:10,659 Speaker 1: The whole country was in a pretty state for years, 246 00:16:11,219 --> 00:16:16,099 Speaker 1: and in nineteen thirty two, presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt announced 247 00:16:16,139 --> 00:16:20,619 Speaker 1: his plan to restore America's economy. He called it the 248 00:16:20,739 --> 00:16:21,379 Speaker 1: New Deal. 249 00:16:22,339 --> 00:16:25,339 Speaker 6: I say to you now that from this date on, 250 00:16:26,299 --> 00:16:31,259 Speaker 6: they paint them men mother's doom. I fled myself go 251 00:16:31,419 --> 00:16:37,499 Speaker 6: a new deal for the American paper, and. 252 00:16:37,499 --> 00:16:41,739 Speaker 3: The idea was that the federal government would provide a 253 00:16:42,099 --> 00:16:45,419 Speaker 3: basic salary and existence to get people to work on 254 00:16:46,019 --> 00:16:50,659 Speaker 3: massive infrastructure projects, anything that could improve the quality of 255 00:16:50,659 --> 00:16:52,499 Speaker 3: life in the United States, and at the same time 256 00:16:52,539 --> 00:16:53,339 Speaker 3: get people working. 257 00:16:54,659 --> 00:16:57,699 Speaker 1: Much to Lee's surprise, Roosevelt said he was going to 258 00:16:57,739 --> 00:17:01,779 Speaker 1: include artists and put them to work on public projects 259 00:17:01,939 --> 00:17:07,059 Speaker 1: like painting murals. When Lee heard this news, she quit 260 00:17:07,139 --> 00:17:12,659 Speaker 1: the dive bar and immediately applied. By January nineteen thirty four, 261 00:17:12,859 --> 00:17:16,299 Speaker 1: she was drawing fossils for a government funded book on rocks, 262 00:17:17,059 --> 00:17:21,419 Speaker 1: not to dream exactly, but it paid the bills. Within 263 00:17:21,459 --> 00:17:26,019 Speaker 1: a few months, the president announced something even bigger, an 264 00:17:26,139 --> 00:17:30,939 Speaker 1: organization that promised to employ about four thousand artists and 265 00:17:31,019 --> 00:17:34,619 Speaker 1: give them a weekly stipend. It was called the Federal 266 00:17:34,699 --> 00:17:37,699 Speaker 1: Art Project, and it was a total game changer. 267 00:17:38,459 --> 00:17:42,939 Speaker 6: The Federal Art Project is a practical relief project to 268 00:17:42,979 --> 00:17:45,379 Speaker 6: take care of people who otherwise would start. 269 00:17:47,219 --> 00:17:53,259 Speaker 3: Artists went from being unpaid undervalued to being recognized as 270 00:17:53,339 --> 00:17:57,379 Speaker 3: having a contribution to make to society worth investing federal 271 00:17:57,459 --> 00:18:00,979 Speaker 3: dollars in. And so this immediately elevated artists in the 272 00:18:01,019 --> 00:18:03,299 Speaker 3: United States took place they had never been before. 273 00:18:04,899 --> 00:18:08,459 Speaker 1: Lee was about to get a steady paycheck and for 274 00:18:08,499 --> 00:18:11,379 Speaker 1: the first time, she would be paid the same as 275 00:18:11,379 --> 00:18:12,259 Speaker 1: her male friends. 276 00:18:14,299 --> 00:18:19,499 Speaker 3: So Lee Krasner could hold herself high because the federal 277 00:18:19,539 --> 00:18:22,299 Speaker 3: government told her and her fellow women, you know, we 278 00:18:22,419 --> 00:18:24,779 Speaker 3: value you, we appreciate your work, and we're going to 279 00:18:24,779 --> 00:18:26,739 Speaker 3: give you a paycheck to do it. So for the 280 00:18:26,779 --> 00:18:29,619 Speaker 3: first time, definitely in the history of the United States 281 00:18:29,659 --> 00:18:33,099 Speaker 3: and possibly in the history of the world, women artists 282 00:18:33,099 --> 00:18:37,339 Speaker 3: were recognized as having worse equal to their male counterparts, 283 00:18:37,379 --> 00:18:42,059 Speaker 3: and this was a revolution in every way. 284 00:18:43,859 --> 00:18:47,939 Speaker 1: Lee worked on murals for schools, government buildings, the local 285 00:18:48,059 --> 00:18:52,899 Speaker 1: radio station WNYC, and through her work she was meeting 286 00:18:52,939 --> 00:18:54,819 Speaker 1: more artists than ever before. 287 00:18:55,299 --> 00:18:58,539 Speaker 3: In their own studios. Under the influence of one another, 288 00:18:58,939 --> 00:19:01,939 Speaker 3: they started developing a style that was more radical, and 289 00:19:01,979 --> 00:19:03,339 Speaker 3: they started experimenting. 290 00:19:04,539 --> 00:19:09,619 Speaker 1: More radical meant less realistic. At this time, the early 291 00:19:09,699 --> 00:19:14,099 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, Lee painted a lot of cities, gapes, images 292 00:19:14,139 --> 00:19:17,419 Speaker 1: of docks or buildings that captured the eerie mood of 293 00:19:17,459 --> 00:19:21,979 Speaker 1: the Depression, all stark lines and geometric shapes. She was 294 00:19:22,019 --> 00:19:24,899 Speaker 1: clearly trying to imitate elements of what she saw at 295 00:19:24,899 --> 00:19:29,259 Speaker 1: the moment, and for the first time, Lee had enough 296 00:19:29,299 --> 00:19:33,099 Speaker 1: money to really dedicate herself to her own work. She 297 00:19:33,259 --> 00:19:35,699 Speaker 1: wanted to improve, to be at the cutting edge of 298 00:19:35,739 --> 00:19:39,419 Speaker 1: it all, and she kept hearing about a new school 299 00:19:39,659 --> 00:19:43,859 Speaker 1: that had just opened, run by an eccentric European called 300 00:19:43,899 --> 00:19:45,539 Speaker 1: Hans Hoffmann. 301 00:19:46,059 --> 00:19:49,699 Speaker 3: A German artist who had been working with Matisse and 302 00:19:49,739 --> 00:19:55,259 Speaker 3: Picasso before World War One. His school was a temple 303 00:19:55,339 --> 00:19:57,899 Speaker 3: for all of these artists who wanted to learn how 304 00:19:57,939 --> 00:20:00,059 Speaker 3: to do the works that they saw in the Museum 305 00:20:00,099 --> 00:20:00,779 Speaker 3: of Modern Art. 306 00:20:05,459 --> 00:20:09,379 Speaker 1: And so in nineteen thirty seven, Lee walked into the 307 00:20:09,419 --> 00:20:16,379 Speaker 1: school on West ninth Street carrying some sketches, sketches that 308 00:20:16,499 --> 00:20:20,179 Speaker 1: no one beyond her fellow aspiring artists had seen before. 309 00:20:21,859 --> 00:20:25,859 Speaker 1: Lee knew this school was very selective, and she really 310 00:20:26,059 --> 00:20:30,099 Speaker 1: wanted to get in. She put on her best game 311 00:20:30,179 --> 00:20:33,059 Speaker 1: face and strode up to the reception desk. 312 00:20:34,139 --> 00:20:37,419 Speaker 7: From that ververy second I saw her walk across the studio, 313 00:20:38,219 --> 00:20:39,059 Speaker 7: I was really. 314 00:20:38,859 --> 00:20:43,019 Speaker 1: Hotd that's Lillian Kisler, the school's registrar. In an old 315 00:20:43,139 --> 00:20:43,979 Speaker 1: archive interview. 316 00:20:44,339 --> 00:20:49,099 Speaker 7: She was dressed in a black blouse, black kite skirt, 317 00:20:49,859 --> 00:20:54,179 Speaker 7: black net stockings, high heel shoes. Even walking in she 318 00:20:54,379 --> 00:21:00,459 Speaker 7: had a animal magnetism and energy are kind of arrogance, 319 00:21:00,579 --> 00:21:03,379 Speaker 7: the commands that makes the waves happen. 320 00:21:03,939 --> 00:21:07,579 Speaker 1: Lee opened her portfolio and arranged it on Lillian's desk. 321 00:21:08,179 --> 00:21:10,899 Speaker 1: They were sketches of a nude model, and as. 322 00:21:10,779 --> 00:21:16,899 Speaker 7: I remember those drawings, they were powerfully black and white. 323 00:21:16,939 --> 00:21:20,339 Speaker 7: The contrast between the blacks and the whites and the 324 00:21:20,379 --> 00:21:26,859 Speaker 7: grays were unusually dynamic. It struck me that here was 325 00:21:26,899 --> 00:21:32,379 Speaker 7: a very original talent. I keep thinking today how extraordinary 326 00:21:32,499 --> 00:21:35,099 Speaker 7: her work was, even in those days. It was so 327 00:21:35,219 --> 00:21:37,819 Speaker 7: above all the work that was being done at the school, 328 00:21:38,379 --> 00:21:42,339 Speaker 7: everyone's work. I found her just a phenomenon that first day, 329 00:21:42,379 --> 00:21:43,659 Speaker 7: and I still think of her that way. 330 00:21:46,059 --> 00:21:50,499 Speaker 1: Lee was immediately admitted, and soon she was attending classes. 331 00:21:51,459 --> 00:21:52,419 Speaker 1: Here's Mary again. 332 00:21:53,219 --> 00:21:56,539 Speaker 3: When she marched into a studio, Lee pushed her way through, 333 00:21:56,859 --> 00:21:58,219 Speaker 3: took the best position. 334 00:21:57,939 --> 00:21:58,579 Speaker 2: In the class. 335 00:21:58,739 --> 00:22:03,379 Speaker 3: Without any regard for her fellow students. She just simply 336 00:22:03,419 --> 00:22:06,139 Speaker 3: didn't care. She was there to do her art. 337 00:22:07,499 --> 00:22:11,659 Speaker 1: Lee would take out how chocolate crayon and confidently strike 338 00:22:11,739 --> 00:22:12,859 Speaker 1: the page. 339 00:22:13,059 --> 00:22:14,659 Speaker 2: There was a group of Lee watchers. 340 00:22:15,179 --> 00:22:18,779 Speaker 3: They literally watched what she created on canvas and how 341 00:22:18,819 --> 00:22:22,379 Speaker 3: she behaved. That left some grumbling, but others watched with 342 00:22:22,499 --> 00:22:25,899 Speaker 3: admiration that this young woman in a man's world of 343 00:22:25,939 --> 00:22:29,859 Speaker 3: painting would take for herself the primary spat in the 344 00:22:29,979 --> 00:22:34,099 Speaker 3: classroom of the most advanced artist teaching in the United 345 00:22:34,099 --> 00:22:35,059 Speaker 3: States at that moment. 346 00:22:38,979 --> 00:22:42,739 Speaker 1: During her time at this school, Lee departed even further 347 00:22:42,979 --> 00:22:46,579 Speaker 1: away from realism. She was beginning to come up with 348 00:22:46,659 --> 00:22:50,939 Speaker 1: a new visual language, one that went even further than 349 00:22:50,979 --> 00:22:54,139 Speaker 1: what she saw at the moment, one that would come 350 00:22:54,139 --> 00:23:00,219 Speaker 1: to be called abstract art. And before long she would 351 00:23:00,219 --> 00:23:03,979 Speaker 1: meet an artist who nobody knew, but someone who spoke 352 00:23:04,099 --> 00:23:08,979 Speaker 1: her secret language, a partner in crime, and together they 353 00:23:09,019 --> 00:23:22,579 Speaker 1: would change art forever. That's after the break In nineteen 354 00:23:22,659 --> 00:23:27,339 Speaker 1: forty one, Lee was done with school and was becoming 355 00:23:27,419 --> 00:23:32,059 Speaker 1: well known as an artist about town. In early November, 356 00:23:32,259 --> 00:23:35,579 Speaker 1: she bumped into a friend, the curator John Graham, and 357 00:23:35,659 --> 00:23:41,019 Speaker 1: invited him over to her studio. Just days later, she 358 00:23:41,099 --> 00:23:44,619 Speaker 1: received a postcard from him. It said that he was 359 00:23:44,619 --> 00:23:48,979 Speaker 1: preparing for an exhibition of American and French painting and 360 00:23:49,059 --> 00:23:52,739 Speaker 1: he'd love to show her work. Lee read the note 361 00:23:52,859 --> 00:23:58,299 Speaker 1: again and again. As the news sank in, Lee looked 362 00:23:58,339 --> 00:24:00,939 Speaker 1: at the list of other artists slated to be in 363 00:24:00,979 --> 00:24:08,419 Speaker 1: the same show, Picasso, Matisse, brack Her Idols, artists who 364 00:24:08,419 --> 00:24:12,339 Speaker 1: had blown her away at MoMA a decade ago, and 365 00:24:12,419 --> 00:24:14,299 Speaker 1: now she was going to be in a group show 366 00:24:14,299 --> 00:24:22,539 Speaker 1: with these guys. Gail Levin, an art historian who befriendedly 367 00:24:22,659 --> 00:24:26,459 Speaker 1: in her twenties, remembers Lee telling her about this huge moment. 368 00:24:27,099 --> 00:24:29,179 Speaker 8: She looks at the list of other Americans, and there's 369 00:24:29,219 --> 00:24:32,299 Speaker 8: a guy she's had never heard of, Jackson Powack. 370 00:24:33,899 --> 00:24:38,379 Speaker 1: His was the only name Lee didn't recognize, so naturally 371 00:24:38,619 --> 00:24:40,019 Speaker 1: she was curious. 372 00:24:39,939 --> 00:24:42,939 Speaker 9: So she asked who he is and was told he 373 00:24:43,019 --> 00:24:46,699 Speaker 9: lives on Ninth Street, not far away. She's a competent woman, 374 00:24:46,859 --> 00:24:49,659 Speaker 9: she's a well respected artist, and she wants to know 375 00:24:49,699 --> 00:24:52,459 Speaker 9: who's this person showing with her that she's never heard of. 376 00:24:55,259 --> 00:24:58,299 Speaker 1: Lee walked over a few blocks to his studio and 377 00:24:58,459 --> 00:25:01,699 Speaker 1: climbed up some Rickety steps to the top floor of 378 00:25:01,779 --> 00:25:04,379 Speaker 1: the tenement building and knocked on the door. 379 00:25:06,459 --> 00:25:11,059 Speaker 8: He answers the door, and she says, Hi, I'm Mie Krasner. 380 00:25:11,819 --> 00:25:12,899 Speaker 8: We're in the same show. 381 00:25:14,299 --> 00:25:17,899 Speaker 1: Jackson invited her into the cramped department, which he shared 382 00:25:18,019 --> 00:25:21,899 Speaker 1: with his brother. Kitchen furniture was pushed aside to create 383 00:25:21,939 --> 00:25:22,899 Speaker 1: space to paint. 384 00:25:24,139 --> 00:25:28,059 Speaker 9: She actually recognized him from an artist union party in 385 00:25:28,139 --> 00:25:31,139 Speaker 9: nineteen thirty six, where he'd asked her to dance, but 386 00:25:31,219 --> 00:25:33,659 Speaker 9: he was drunk. She was a great dancer, and he 387 00:25:33,739 --> 00:25:35,579 Speaker 9: was stepping all over her feet. 388 00:25:36,019 --> 00:25:40,099 Speaker 1: This was the party where Lee first met Jackson. It 389 00:25:40,179 --> 00:25:42,859 Speaker 1: wasn't a very successful encounter. 390 00:25:44,939 --> 00:25:46,499 Speaker 8: So she didn't have much use for him then. I 391 00:25:46,539 --> 00:25:50,659 Speaker 8: don't know who he was. But now the situation is different. 392 00:25:50,699 --> 00:25:52,899 Speaker 8: They're in the same show. So she looks at his 393 00:25:53,219 --> 00:25:58,059 Speaker 8: art and she was really stunned by his work. She 394 00:25:58,099 --> 00:26:00,859 Speaker 8: thought it was really something special. 395 00:26:05,939 --> 00:26:10,019 Speaker 1: Lee looked around Jackson's studio and saw paintings covered in 396 00:26:10,139 --> 00:26:15,139 Speaker 1: slabs of fiery colors and thick raw textures, shapes neither 397 00:26:15,259 --> 00:26:19,499 Speaker 1: human nor animal, mystical scenes with hints of Mayan and 398 00:26:19,579 --> 00:26:23,739 Speaker 1: Aztec symbolism. They reminded Lee of what she'd seen at 399 00:26:23,739 --> 00:26:28,979 Speaker 1: the moment. That first time, she'd described that experience as 400 00:26:29,019 --> 00:26:33,539 Speaker 1: a bomb going off, and now she had that exact 401 00:26:33,579 --> 00:26:38,499 Speaker 1: same feeling stepping into Jackson's studio. Here's Lee again. 402 00:26:39,379 --> 00:26:43,139 Speaker 4: The bomb exploded when I saw that first French show. 403 00:26:43,699 --> 00:26:46,539 Speaker 4: The next bomb that had flooded was this incident. When 404 00:26:46,539 --> 00:26:49,459 Speaker 4: I walked into his studio. There were five or six 405 00:26:49,579 --> 00:26:52,339 Speaker 4: canvases around, and it had the same impact on me. 406 00:26:52,779 --> 00:26:55,619 Speaker 5: Something blue. 407 00:26:57,019 --> 00:27:00,579 Speaker 1: At the time, Jackson was twenty nine years old, a 408 00:27:00,659 --> 00:27:03,739 Speaker 1: guy who was born on a farm in Wyoming who'd 409 00:27:03,779 --> 00:27:08,659 Speaker 1: made it to New York. But apart from that drunken dance, 410 00:27:09,019 --> 00:27:10,939 Speaker 1: Lee hadn't seen him around before. 411 00:27:11,419 --> 00:27:14,419 Speaker 3: Nobody knew Palack, no one had really seen his work. 412 00:27:15,579 --> 00:27:18,219 Speaker 1: Lee went home, wanting to see Jackson again. 413 00:27:18,539 --> 00:27:18,819 Speaker 9: Soon. 414 00:27:27,779 --> 00:27:31,139 Speaker 1: Just a couple of months later, in January nineteen forty two, 415 00:27:31,579 --> 00:27:34,459 Speaker 1: when Lee went to the opening of that big group 416 00:27:34,499 --> 00:27:37,979 Speaker 1: show that they were both in, she took Jackson as 417 00:27:37,979 --> 00:27:38,459 Speaker 1: her date. 418 00:27:39,339 --> 00:27:42,899 Speaker 3: And so this shy, good looking young man appeared at 419 00:27:42,899 --> 00:27:47,099 Speaker 3: this art opening on the arm of a supernova. She 420 00:27:47,419 --> 00:27:51,179 Speaker 3: was the tap of the art heap in Manhattan, the 421 00:27:51,219 --> 00:27:54,739 Speaker 3: center of the scene. She was almost seen as doing 422 00:27:54,779 --> 00:27:57,539 Speaker 3: him a favor by introducing him. 423 00:27:57,859 --> 00:28:01,179 Speaker 1: Jackson was a certain kind of handsome, but he could 424 00:28:01,179 --> 00:28:05,859 Speaker 1: hardly afford clothes and usually wore ovals. Many of Lee's 425 00:28:05,899 --> 00:28:08,219 Speaker 1: friends mistook him for a janitor. 426 00:28:10,019 --> 00:28:11,939 Speaker 3: No one had any idea that they were looking at 427 00:28:12,059 --> 00:28:15,419 Speaker 3: Jackson Powlock, who would be the seminole figure in American 428 00:28:15,539 --> 00:28:17,059 Speaker 3: art history. 429 00:28:17,899 --> 00:28:28,339 Speaker 1: That's next time on Death of an Artist. Death of 430 00:28:28,379 --> 00:28:32,499 Speaker 1: an Artist Krasner and Pollock is produced by Pushkin Industries 431 00:28:32,579 --> 00:28:37,379 Speaker 1: and Samasdat Audio. Clem Hitchcock is our producer. Story editing 432 00:28:37,659 --> 00:28:43,019 Speaker 1: by Dasherlitz at Sina, Sophie Crane and Karen Schakerji from Pushkin. 433 00:28:43,259 --> 00:28:47,699 Speaker 1: The executive producer is Jacob Smith from Samasdat Audio. The 434 00:28:47,819 --> 00:28:52,939 Speaker 1: executive producers are Dasherlitz at Sina and Joe Sykes. Sound 435 00:28:52,939 --> 00:28:57,979 Speaker 1: design by Peregrin Andrews. Original scoring and our theme were 436 00:28:58,019 --> 00:29:03,059 Speaker 1: composed by Martin Austwick. Fact checking by Arthur Gompertz, with 437 00:29:03,179 --> 00:29:09,939 Speaker 1: special thanks to Jacob Weisberg. I'm Katie Hessel. The cap 438 00:29:10,419 --> 00:29:11,979 Speaker 1: from the theat