The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous,
a massive blockbuster dual exhibition exploring the intersecting careers, marital dynamics, and distinct artistic trajectories of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock through more than 120 paintings sourced from over 80 institutions worldwide. Curated by David Breslin and Brinda Kumar over three years, the show brings together works by the American couple alongside pieces by modern masters such as Modigliani, Matisse, Picasso, and de Kooning.
Curating the Met Exhibition Past Continuous
The curators deliberately avoided a simplistic compare-and-contrast framework regarding who created drip paintings first. Instead, Kumar noted that they found it productive to think in terms of creative adjacency and a looking back and forth between the two artists. The exhibition title derives from a group of late-career Krasner paintings named after verb tenses, serving as a metaphor for how both painters let their collective and individual pasts inform their ongoing work.
The exhibition design partially recreates a storied 1940 exhibition at McMillen Inc. curated by John Graham. That historical show launched the careers of Pollock and de Kooning while placing New York School leaders beside Parisian greats. At the time of their meeting at that exhibition, Krasner was socially adroit and deeply connected within the New York art scene, whereas Pollock was largely a recluse. Kumar pointed out that Krasner knew everyone at the time except Pollock, who was not a mixer.
Krasner Managed Her Career While Supporting Pollock Through Gender Disparities
Krasner managed her own career while acting as an unofficial publicist and champion for Pollock, folding gallery programs and working to pay the bills. Breslin noted that Krasner was intensely aware of the gender politics of the era and realized Pollock was the more commercially viable half of the couple. While Pollock experienced a meteoric rise to fame, Krasner’s career remained static during his ascent and she continued creating steadily for two full decades after his death in a 1956 driving accident. Despite achieving significant milestones, including a solo retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art and art market prices reaching up to $10m, Krasner remains in Pollock’s shadow due to enduring gender politics.
Rather than presenting a sentimental recovery of an overlooked wife, the exhibition displays the grandeur of a female existence devoted to painting whose visual syntax kept mutating through collage, fragmentation, and relentless self-interrogation.
Krasner and Pollock Combined Contrasting Artistic Backgrounds After Moving to Springs
Krasner and Pollock brought vastly different backgrounds to their life together after moving to Springs, Long Island, in 1945. Krasner possessed an impeccable scholarly pedigree from the finest art training available in America at the time, while Pollock drew influence from the untamed American West, Mexican muralism, and Indigenous artists. Kumar explained that while excessive schooling can sometimes cause an artist to lose themselves, Krasner’s encounter with Pollock gave her the freedom to break away and achieve remarkable artistic liberation.
Krasner introduced Pollock to the work of Matisse, which profoundly influenced both artists, particularly after they viewed MoMA’s major 1951 Matisse retrospective featuring late-career cutouts. Breslin stated that Krasner and Matisse gave Pollock permission to use color in an entirely different way. The Met’s exhibition captures this mutual evolution by extending its timeline to encompass periods both before and after their relationship, showcasing works that rarely appear in standard surveys of either artist.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Exhibition
How many artworks and institutions are featured in the exhibition?
The blockbuster show spans over 120 paintings drawn from loans provided by more than 80 institutions worldwide.
What historical exhibition does the Met show recreate in part?
The installation partially re-creates a 1940 exhibition curated by John Graham at McMillen Inc. that originally placed New York School leaders alongside Parisian greats.
Did you know? Lee Krasner titled a group of her late-career paintings after grammatical verb tenses—Future Indicative, Imperative, Imperfect Indicative, and Past Continuous—which ultimately inspired the title of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition.
To have that past continue into the present and into the future is something that we wanted to have in the exhibition,
Breslin said.
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