The Seasons

1940s–1950s

Signing “L.K.” instead of a name

She often does not sign her works at all, signs with the gender-neutral initials “L.K.”, or blends her signature into the painting so as not to emphasize that she is a woman and the wife of another painter.

1955

Collages at the Stable Gallery

Eleanor Ward shows Krasner’s collages at the Stable Gallery in New York: they receive little public acclaim apart from a good review from Clement Greenberg; another account says the exhibition was a great success.

summer 1956

Pollock’s death

Krasner leaves in the summer to visit friends in Europe but soon returns: Pollock has died in a car crash, a drunk-driving incident. She is left as executor of his estate at the peak of his career, and the loss leaves a lasting emotional mark on her.

by 1956

Her marriage to Pollock in crisis

By 1956 the relationship is strained: Pollock again struggles with alcoholism and begins an affair with Ruth Kligman.

1958

Commission for two murals at 2 Broadway

She is commissioned to create two abstract murals for an office building at 2 Broadway in Manhattan; according to the art historian Barbara Rose, working on the collage maquettes let her translate her winged, floral and organic forms into monumental abstractions on a public scale.

1959

Her mother dies

Her mother, Anna (Chane), née Weiss, dies.