Painted between 1959 and 1962, Krasner’s Umber Paintings were realized during one of the artist’s most ambitious periods of creative production 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, an emphasis on gesturality and an engagement with the individual psyche.
These fiercely composed abstract forms, with their explosive brushwork and a refined, nuanced palette of umber, cream and white, convey a distinctive rawness and intensity that was unprecedented in her oeuvre. The paintings remain lauded as the artist’s most psychologically evocative works.
Paul Kasmin Gallery’s exhibition The Umber Paintings ran November 9, 2017, to January 13, 2018, bringing together five works from the series at 293 Tenth Ave, New York.
This fully illustrated and comprehensive catalogue raisonné on the series includes two interviews with Krasner and an essay by art historian Dr. David Anfam, Senior Consulting Curator of the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver and curator of the 2016-17 exhibition Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy, London.
