Sally Stockhold

Pollock vs. Krasner, 1952

From “myselfportraits, ode to icons” Series
Hand-colored archival pigment print
Edition of 6 + 2 APs
Sally Stockhold © 2009

Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), Lee Krasner (1908-1984) Pollock and Krasner met in 1942 and began a life together of artistic collaboration. But Krasner spent most of her time promoting Pollock’s career leaving little opportunity for her own painting. She also was forced to deal with his constant bouts of alcoholism and deviant behavior. In 1956, when Pollock was 43 years old and living with Krasner on the south fork of Long Island, he drove his convertible into a tree while intoxicated, killing himself and a friend of his young mistress. Not only did this tragic event romanticize his troubled life but it also sealed Pollock’s towering legacy. After Pollock’s death, Krasner resumed painting but would bristle at being identified firstly as his widow and secondly as an artist in her own right.

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