Photo By Gail

In The Seasons (1957), Lee Krasner (1908 – 1984) combined a traditional subject with modern, pictorial form, the all-over composition. Historically, the subject of the four seasons has offered artists the opportunity for allegorical mediations on the life cycle. Krasner’s version exemplifies the regenerative portion of that cycle, with boldly, almost garishly colored plant forms that seem to morph into sexual organs.

This monumental painting offered Krasner an outlet during a time of deep personal sorrow. The year before, her husband, and fellow artist Jackson Pollock, had died in a car accident. In the wake of the sudden loss, Krasner remarked about The seasons, “the question came up whether one would continue painting at all, and I guess this was my answer.”

Photographed in the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC.