This painting is based on an image by artist and close friend Wilfred Zogbaum—not of Lee
and Jackson’s actual wedding (which was a quick private ceremony at a NYC courthouse in
1945), but of the love they shared as they exchanged freshly picked daisies outside their
Springs home in 1949.

“When I saw his paintings, I almost died. They bowled me over. Then I met him, and that was
it.” — Lee Krasner

Lee first met Pollock at an Artists’ Union party in 1936, but their real connection began in
1941 when she encountered his work in the landmark exhibition French and American
Painting. Not recognizing his name, she boldly invited herself to his studio. She was
astonished by what she saw, and the rest is history.

Three years older than Pollock and already respected within New York’s art world, Lee was
one of Hans Hofmann’s favorite students, an exhibiting artist, and a leader in WPA projects
and union activities. She introduced Pollock to her circle and championed his career, often at
the expense of her own.

When painting this, I listened to Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel and a playlist compiled
from the Pollock-Krasner House archives. As I worked, I found myself immersed in their
world. At one point I “lost” Pollock’s face in the painting and spent days finding it again,
feeling strangely connected to the anxieties he may have carried himself.

The result is a portrait of Pollock not as a mythic figure, but as a vulnerable and tender man
expressing admiration and gratitude to the confident, courageous Lee Krasner. Their
relationship was far from simple, but there was a beauty in their artistic partnership and
shared pursuit of a truly new American art.