Met's Krasner-Pollock Show Features $3 Billion In Art, No US Indemnity

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Metropolitan Museum of Art's recent exhibition,“Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous,” brought together masterpieces valued at over $3 billion in combined insurance coverage, with individual works by Jackson Pollock estimated to be worth up to $350 million. Despite its scale, the exhibition did not receive coverage from the U.S. government's Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Program.

The show, which opened last week, drew a large crowd of notable figures including billionaires, movie stars, and prominent artists. It charts the artistic journeys of Abstract Expressionist pioneers Jackson Pollock (1912–56) and Lee Krasner (1908–84), from their early experiments with figuration and Surrealism to Pollock's signature drip paintings and Krasner's innovative collages. The exhibition concludes with a focus on Krasner's work created in the 28 years following Pollock's fatal car accident in 1956.

According to an analysis of public auction data and interviews with collectors, appraisers, and dealers, the exhibition's total insurance valuation easily surpasses $3 billion. A spokesperson for the Met declined to comment on the insurance specifics, citing institutional policy. Typically, exhibitions of this magnitude qualify for federal indemnity, but“Krasner and Pollock” was not listed among the program's approved domestic or international exhibitions.

The Met's considerable influence and resources were crucial in staging this blockbuster exhibition. Lenders included museums willing to part with popular works and wealthy collectors sharing private holdings. Insurers and lenders also had to agree on valuations for the irreplaceable artworks. Pollock's renowned pieces were considered vital for attracting visitors, which also served to reevaluate Krasner's legacy and potentially reduce the significant disparity in market prices between the two artists.

Among the prominent attendees at the vernissage last week were collectors Ronald Lauder, Linda Macklowe, and Maja Hoffmann; actors Steve Martin, Paul Bettany, and Jennifer Connelly; artists KAWS and Dana Schutz; museum directors Scott Rothkopf and Melissa Chiu; and Sotheby's CEO Charlie Stewart. One gallery featured Pollock's Number 17A (1948), on loan from billionaire Ken Griffin, who acquired it for approximately $200 million in a private transaction in 2015, a sum equivalent to roughly $280 million when adjusted for inflation. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., loaned Lavender Mist: Number 1, 1950, a major drip painting displayed next to a mirrored wall that became a popular spot for selfies.

Art advisor and valuation expert Beverly Schreiber Jacoby, who was not involved with the exhibition, stated that recent sales provide benchmarks for valuing other works. She estimated that top pieces at the Met would be insured for $250 million to $350 million. This includes Pollock's monumental One: Number 31, 1950, nearly 9 feet tall and 17 feet wide, on loan from the Museum of Modern Art.

Cathleen Chaffee, chief curator of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, which lent Pollock's Convergence: Number 10, 1952, commented on the difficulty of parting with such a significant work.“We assign them value as a way of mitigating risk, but they are priceless,” Chaffee said. The museum considers the almost 8-foot tall, 13-foot wide painting a“destination work” and rarely lends it. Chaffee declined to disclose its insurance value. The painting traveled to the Met in a dedicated truck, with a Robert Motherwell work displayed in its place in Buffalo.

The Buffalo AKG Art Museum agreed to lend the Pollock, along with a 1955 Krasner collage titled Milkweed, due to the Met show's“compelling thesis,” Chaffee explained.“We will not see a show like this again. This was a Herculean effort to get these paintings together. I am glad we are part of it.”

Curators David Breslin and Brinda Kumar designed the exhibition to portray Pollock and Krasner as“peers and life partners” whose work evolved through mutual influence. Krasner has a larger presence in the show, with 81 pieces exhibited compared to Pollock's 48, according to the exhibition checklist. The exhibition commences with Krasner's Matisse-inspired collages, created from her and Pollock's discarded artworks, and concludes with galleries dedicated to her later paintings, including one from the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. The exhibition catalogue lists 60 named lenders and 23 anonymous private collections.

Collector Christian Levett, whose Female Artists of the Mougins Museum loaned Krasner's Prophecy (1956), praised the show for highlighting Krasner.“It sets up Krasner in such a great light,” Levett said.“It isn't just another Pollock show or another Abstract Expressionism show. It's so refreshing that it was clearly about highlighting the female artist. So, you walk away feeling that you had an exciting and educational experience. You walk away thinking about Lee Krasner, not Jackson Pollock.” The Met aims to solidify Krasner's significance and unique artistic journey.

Art critic Emily Wasserman concisely summarized Krasner's complex legacy in 1968:“That Lee Krasner was the wife of Jackson Pollock has been at once the greatest single advantage and the greatest handicap to her career as an independent painter.” Krasner was recognized during her lifetime, receiving awards, appearing in Vogue, and being the subject of a biography, a documentary, and a two-year traveling retrospective that concluded at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1985, the year after her death at age 75. U.S. museums continued to champion her work, with another retrospective touring four stops between 1999 and 2001, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum. More recently, London's Barbican Art Gallery presented“Lee Krasner: Living Colour,” her first European retrospective since 1965, which traveled to Germany and Spain.

Despite her acclaim, Krasner remains significantly undervalued in the market compared to Pollock. Her most expensive artwork sold at auction, The Eye Is the First Circle (1960), fetched only $11.6 million in 2019. Glenstone, the private museum founded by Mitchell and Emily Rales, purchased and loaned this painting to the Met. Its monumental dimensions, 8 feet tall and 16 feet wide, reflect Krasner's move into Pollock's former studio in a barn in Springs, New York, after his passing.

Jacoby stated that the exhibition“is a reevaluation of her achievement in order to establish her critical acclaim, and the market will follow this reevaluation.” There is considerable potential for growth in Krasner's market. Her annual auction sales reached a peak of $21 million in 2019.

We previously reported:

A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York explores the intertwined careers and personal relationship of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock.

Source: Artnet News

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