I enjoy reading about art and artists (especially women artists and their struggles for recognition in the male-oriented art world), so I was particularly drawn to this book. The Woman Who Painted the Seasons is the fictional biography of Lena Krassner (who renames herself Lee Krasner), the “anchor baby” of a Jewish family that immigrated from Ukraine. From an early age, she determines to become an artist, and this book follows her from her endeavors beginning in high school in the 1920s and her progress through various art professors in multiple New York art schools.

Early on, the language seems overly simplistic, and there isn’t a lot going on other than class work, so I nearly abandoned the book. However, knowing Krasner would eventually intersect with—and marry—Jackson Pollack, the Abstract Expressionist artist, I persisted. 

The book is clearly well-researched and reveals the careers of both Krasner (who managed Pollack’s work and later his estate) and Pollack in detail. Pollack is an alcoholic who becomes abusive when drunk—which becomes most of the time. Krasner, though, believes in his genius and persists in managing his career while trying to controlling his alcohol consumption. Her drive to become an artist recognized as an equal to any male artist is often submerged beneath her attempts to stabilize Pollack. Their relationship slowly destabilizes, and the story becomes quite intense as Fields-Schneider documents Pollack’s abuse and Krasner’s willingness to endure it. Eventually, she leaves him. Her own success comes considerably after Pollack’s but is well-deserved.

I have studied art myself and have a more-than-passing knowledge of contemporary art and knew most of the paintings and artists mentioned. That said, you can read and enjoy the story without having a background on the subject. I’d rate the first third of the book at a 3 and the rest at a 5, averaging to a 4, but it’s worth persisting to watch Krasner arise to the top of her field.

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The Woman Who Painted the Seasons(PFS Publishing, August 15, 2024) is available through:

Your local independent bookseller      |     Amazon     |     Barnes & Noble

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You can read my reviews of other books about art and artists here:

 

 

 

 

The Lost Masterpiece by B.A. Shapiro

Pale Morning Light with Violet Swan by Deborah Reed

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru

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