Gail Levin Talks about Lee Krasner
« back to All BlogsBy Debbie Hagan
Last night, May 3, the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center at Simmons College filled with women, most wielding some kind of power in the Boston art scene: scholars, curators, artists, collectors, and museum directors. “Women, Power and the Arts,” a panel discussion, brought out a crowd of 400 or so. Many of them came to hear Gail Levin talk about her new book, Lee Krasner: A Biography.
Levin told the audience that when she first arrived at Simmons College (class of ’69), she headed straight to the library and was drawn to a particular book: Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique. “The rest is history.” The crowd chucked, but it was that book, in fact, that established Levin not just as a feminist, but one with a mission to resurrect “erased women artists.”
To date, she has written three books about women largely left out of art history. Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography is based on the diaries of his wife Jo Hopper, covering their forty-three-year tumultuous marriage. Jo was an artist in her own right, but when she died in 1968, she left her artwork to the Whitney Museum, which took her best work, around 100 paintings, and gave them to hospitals. The rest, they trashed. Levin advised the crowd, look for Jo Hopper's work at yard sales.
As for Krasner, Levin met her in East Hampton in 1977, at what is now known as the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center. As a student artist at Cooper Union, Krasner didn’t win awards. In fact, her teachers called her work “sloppy.” She wasn’t about to give up. Levin says, “When a teacher told her that, she just got another teacher.”
One of her mentors was Hans Hoffmann, who, according to Levin, said, “It’s so good you can’t believe it’s by a woman.” Her reaction? Krasner said that it’s a little like stepping in the sun and just before you can really bask in it, you’re given a cold shower.
The entire evening reminded of how far women have come in the visual arts … and yet how much further we can go.
| Hey, that's the grateest! So with ll this brain power AWHFY? |
| Posted by: Marylouise On: Jun 22, 2011 6:24 am |
