“Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous at The Metropolitan Museum of Art” is a major exhibition that charts the full arc of the careers of Lee Krasner (1908-84) and Jackson Pollock (1912-56) in parallel, examining the distinct yet connected practices of these artistic peers. It will run through Jan. 31, 2027, and marks the first major New York presentation devoted to either artist in more than 20 years, introducing their work to a new generation while reassessing their enduring impacts on modern and contemporary art.
Krasner and Pollock were emerging artists in New York when they met on the occasion of being included in a 1942 exhibition organized by the artist John Graham. The artists lived in Springs, Long Island, where they remained until Pollock’s death in 1956. Pollock’s life's work had secured his legacy, while the nearly three decades that Krasner survived him marked some of the most transformative years of her career. Drawing its subtitle, “Past Continuous,” from a 1976 painting by Krasner, the exhibition traces parallel lives and practices, first forged by lived experience and then shadowed by memory. It foregrounds the range and art historical significance of Krasner’s work while offering a sustained examination of Pollock’s rich and complex practice.
The exhibition is made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin and Griffin Catalyst, Marina Kellen French, and the Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore Foundation. Additional support is provided by Trevor and Alexis Traina, the Aaron I. Fleischman and Lin Lougheed Fund, The Huo Family Foundation, Joyce Kwok, Janice Lee and Joseph Bae, Dina Axelrad Perry, Alice and Tom Tisch, and the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.
“With its distinctive premise and scope, ‘Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous’ exemplifies the Met’s commitment to reexamining modern art through rigorous scholarship and fresh perspectives,” said Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French director and chief executive officer of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “By considering each artist on their own terms while also foregrounding their consequential relationship, the exhibition situates Krasner’s and Pollock’s work within a broader cultural and artistic context, an approach central to the mission of the Met’s department of modern and contemporary art and to the vision of the forthcoming Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, opening in 2030. This project affirms Krasner and Pollock not only as defining figures of their moment, but as artists whose work continues to shape and inspire future generations,” continued Hollein.
“‘Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous’ begins with the fundamental premise that these artists are equals, partners in life, giants in the history of art, and revolutionaries who defined what abstraction could be,” said David Breslin, Leonard A. Lauder curator in charge, department of modern and contemporary art, the Met. “Each found a partner who would insist on the primacy of art over life; and they both aspired to an art that was forged out of historical connections but that also promised freedom and radical possibility in a world forever changed by war. The exhibition concerns entwined lives but is also about how different artistic directions come from shared terrain,” finished Breslin.
“‘Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous’ approaches these artists not as a single story, but as two practices unfolding in proximity over time,” said Brinda Kumar, associate curator, department of modern and contemporary art, the Met. “The exhibition examines how Krasner and Pollock shared a commitment to testing the possibilities of abstraction, through shifts in scale, material, and form, and how those investigations continued to evolve along distinct trajectories.”
“Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous” follows each artist’s life and work. The exhibition highlights their differences as much as their interrelation, with some galleries that place the artists together and others where they are presented independently. Krasner and Pollock were shaped by their distinct upbringings and formative trainings. Krasner adopted and negotiated the tenets of the European avant-garde, particularly Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Piet Mondrian. Her training under Hans Hofmann was key to her development. Pollock’s network of broad influences included Thomas Hart Benton and American Regionalism, Mexican mural traditions, Surrealism, and even his own family of artists. Their early paths unfold as complementary divergences, tracing distinct strands of American modernism that would ultimately converge in the rupture known as Abstract Expressionism. For Pollock, his breakthrough was the “drip” technique, a radical mode of painting that flourished in a condensed but prolific period from 1946 to 1951. Krasner’s varied practice was typified by ceaseless explorations of abstraction, often cued by her abiding interest in the possibilities of nature and color. This manifested in bold collages, gestural canvases and vividly hued hard-edge painting. Historically, Pollock’s reputation has eclipsed Krasner’s. Life Magazine asked in 1949 if Pollock was “the greatest living painter in the United States.” His early death and posthumous media attention further amplified his fame and eclipsed critical appraisal of Krasner’s contributions. Today, both artists’ practices are rightly recognized as key to the innovations of art from the mid-20th century onwards. This exhibition continues and amplifies this reevaluation.
The exhibition draws on the Met collection and rarely loaned works from more than 80 U.S. and international lenders, bringing together over 120 paintings, works on paper, and ephemera to reconsider Krasner’s and Pollock’s careers, both on their own terms and in dynamic relation to each another and their shared artistic context. Major institutional lenders include Peggy Guggenheim Collection, MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Tate, National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Centre Pompidou, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and SFMoMA. The exhibition will also include several rarely seen works from important private collections.
The Met has long been significant for both Krasner and Pollock. Pollock first exhibited a painting at the Met in 1943 in an exhibition in support of WWII. By the end of the decade, he would be among the artists “The Irascibles,” who mounted a notable critique of the museum’s then-prevailing attitude to contemporary art. However, a short while after Pollock’s death, The Met acquired the landmark painting “Autumn Rhythm: Number 30, 1950” (1950). The Met’s collection of works by Lee Krasner was complemented by important gifts to the museum by the artist during her lifetime. The Met was also the venue for Krasner’s memorial service in 1984. “Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous” builds on this history, marking the museum’s first major exhibition devoted to either artist. A focused survey, the exhibition traces the arcs of their artistic developments, offering fresh perspectives on two of the most influential figures of 20th-century art.
The exhibition also reflects the Met’s commitment to showcasing artists whose work continues to shape how art is made and understood today. Krasner’s and Pollock’s contributions to modernism and their serious engagement with the possibilities of painting continues to be significant for the work of contemporary artists. In advance of the opening of the Tang wing for modern and contemporary art, opening in 2030, “Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous” models a curatorial approach that reexamines canonical narratives and connects 20th-century innovations to the concerns of today’s artists and audiences.
For more information, visit www.metmuseum.org.