Krasner + Pollock

After training independently at various schools and under formative teachers in New York, Krasner and Pollock were contracted by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1943, providing them—and many other artists nationwide—with a living wage and the ability to professionally pursue art. Both artists would formally meet in 1942, when they were shown in the same group exhibition French and American Painting at McMillen Gallery. Astonished that she didn’t recognize Pollock’s name among the list of exhibiting artists, which included Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning, and others, Krasner learned that this new painter lived around the corner. She marched up to his apartment, knocking on his door to introduce herself. In a letter, Krasner said she would later learn that “it was most unusual for Jackson to answer. When I knocked, he opened.” 

From then on, Krasner and Pollock formed a personal and artistic partnership, and married in 1945. They had a deep impact on each other’s practices; Pollock ushered her toward a new and free approach to painting and Krasner helped him to be organized and refined. In 1977, Krasner would look back on her artistic relationship with Pollock, saying: “he gave me the confidence to accept my own experience.”