Lee Krasner

Charcoal Studies presents a series of figurative charcoals made by Lee Krasner (1908–84) from 1937 to 1940 under the tutelage of Hans Hofmann that would become seminal to the artist’s career.

In 1977, Krasner demonstrated the relevance of these charcoal works in a brilliant late series of collage paintings in which she repurposed a large number of her Hofmann School drawings. Fortunately, Krasner did not destroy all the drawings. Fifty of these are included in her 1995 catalogue raisonné; another portfolio with 20 more (including four previously unknown still lifes) has recently come to light.

Charcoals includes the never-before-published works as well as updated research and text to serve as a complete listing of all surviving Hofmann School charcoal sketches and as a definitive reference on this pivotal period within Krasner’s oeuvre.

This book focuses on the iconic Umber Paintings of Lee Krasner (1908–84), which consist of only 24 paintings. Painted between 1959 and 1962, the Umber Paintings were realized during one of Krasner’s most ambitious periods of cproduction following the sudden and tragic loss of her husband, Jackson Pollock. During this time of newfound solitude, Krasner moved into Pollock’s studio at their home in the Springs, East Hampton, which enabled her to experiment on large canvases for the first time. In addition to the increase in scale, this period was also characterized by a further commitment to %allover% compositions. By the end of the 1950s, Krasner’s emotional turmoil confined her to work only at night under artificial light. The Umber Paintings convey a distinctive rawness and intensity that was unprecedented in her oeuvre until this point, and remain lauded as the artist’s most psychologically evocative works.