Met Museum's 'Past Continuous' Exhibition Reframes Art History as Equal Partnership

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened 'Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous,' a major exhibition featuring more than 120 works by Lee Krasner (1908–84) and Jackson Pollock (1912–56). The show specifically aims to present their artistic relationship as an equal partnership, a significant shift from decades of historical narratives that have focused almost exclusively on Pollock and cast Krasner in a secondary role.

Historical framing has long been dominated by Pollock's persona. His status was cemented by a recent May auction that elevated his market value to over $100 million, and a 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White. That 934-page book, 'Jackson Pollock: An American Saga,' also inspired the 2000 film 'Pollock,' for which Marcia Gay Harden won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Krasner, reinforcing her perception as a supporting character.

Previous curatorial efforts, such as the 1981 exhibition 'Krasner/Pollock: A Working Relationship' curated by Barbara Rose, attempted to reframe them as artistic equals. However, the new Met show goes further by treating Krasner's artistic emergence, particularly during Pollock's decline in the mid-1950s, as a distinct and central narrative rather than merely a backdrop to his life.