Pollock-Krasner House

Growing up, our house was abundant with two things – books and art. We never had the means for real canvases, but I remember my mother bringing home posters and lithographs and feeling no shame to hang them in our living room. They were mostly abstract and surrealist artists such as Salvatore Dali, Joan Miró and Jackson Pollock. One day I was looking at the Pollock and said to my mother, “ I could have made that in Kindergarten” and her response was “show me”. So I sat at the kitchen table and tried. Defeated after 30 minutes, I realized that these paintings were not random accidents. I gained a whole new appreciation for this genre of artists. Especially Jackson Pollock.

Jackson Pollock (and his iconic drip masterpieces) has continued to randomly appear in my life. I discovered that he spent his childhood in Arizona which played a significant role in his artwork. He was afraid of the wild desert life – which resonated with me after spending 25 years living with scorpions, heat and near misses with rattlesnakes. At my boy’s pediatricians office, a Pollock hung in the waiting room. For years, I saw it almost weekly (those of you with children can relate to spending so much time at the pediatricians office) and would talk about it with my boys trying to pass the time. Finally, I learned a few years ago that Pollock was a “foodie” (like me) and enjoyed baking and hosting dinner parties.

When I found out that I was going to be close to his studio several years ago while on vacation in New York, I jumped at the chance to visit and dragged my husband along too. The Pollock-Krasner House is situated in the hamlet of Springs in East Hampton, New York which is on the eastern end of Long Island where I’ve rented a house for a bit this summer. Last weekend, my girlfriends came to visit, so naturally I had to share this treasure. His home and studio are located on the most gorgeous property, lush with trees overlooking the water. I assume that his frenetic life in NYC prompted him to seek out the nature and solitude here. In the late 1940’s he bought the home and property with help from Peggy Guggenheim and eventually paid off the loan from the sales of his paintings. His home that he shared with his wife, artist Lee Krasner, is modest and understated. The kitchen being the first thing you see,with abundant spices still on the rack and potholders hanging on the wall. The dining table was huge, seating 12 with room for more.

However, the highlight of the property is his studio, which was the original barn on the property that he moved and renovated. In this space, he created his most prominent paintings with his now famous pouring technique. He literally laid the canvases on the floor and worked around the canvas. To many of us it may seem half hazard, however researchers have detected that Pollock indeed used fractal patterns in the paintings – meaning that there was a sense of order to the patterns. Like nature, fractal patterns repeat on different scales resulting in a feeling of organic harmony. For example the leaves on a branch, alternating and repeating.

The floors are perfectly, imperfect-layered with paint drippings, splatter and the outlines of his canvases. In order to preserve the floors, special slippers must be worn, which you can see in my photos. Walking on it was almost a surreal experience giving me a deeper understanding of his perspective while painting his pieces. Throughout both buildings are photographs and facts about Jackson Pollock and his life there spent with Lee Krasner. Unfortunately, his tragic, untimely death and the circumstances surrounding it brings about a certain sadness to the overall experience, but I will choose to focus on his tremendous talent and gifts that he has given to our world. The Pollock-Krasner House is open Thursdays-Saturdays, May through October. Should you be in NYC, take a day trip if you don’t mind a few hours on a train – it is well worth it.