Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
October 4, 2026 to January 31, 2027
This year, The Met will present a major exhibition dedicated to the careers of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock. Featuring over 120 works from more than 80 U.S. and international lenders, this exhibition marks the first major New York presentation of either artist's work in over two decades—and their first at The Met.
Read the announcement in The New York Times
Learn more about the exhibition on The Met's website
Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a major exhibition that charts the full arc of the careers of Lee Krasner (1908-1984) and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) in parallel, examining the distinct yet connected practices of these artistic peers and life partners. It marks the first major New York presentation devoted to either artist in more than 20 years, introducing their work to a new generation while reassessing their enduring impacts on modern and contemporary art.
Drawing its subtitle, Past Continuous, from a 1976 painting by Krasner, the exhibition traces parallel lives and practices, first forged by lived experience and then shadowed by memory. It foregrounds the range and art historical significance of Krasner's work while offering a sustained examination of Pollock's rich and complex practice.
Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous follows each artist's life and work. The exhibition highlights their differences as much as their interrelation, with some galleries that place the artists together and others where they are presented independently. Krasner and Pollock were shaped by their distinct upbringings and formative trainings. Krasner adopted and negotiated the tenets of the European avant-garde, particularly Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Piet Mondrian. Her training under Hans Hofmann was key to her development. Pollock's network of broad influences included Thomas Hart Benton and American Regionalism, Mexican mural traditions, Surrealism, as well as his own family of artists. Their early paths unfold as complementary divergences, tracing distinct strands of American modernism that would ultimately converge in the rupture known as Abstract Expressionism. For Pollock, his breakthrough was the "drip" technique, a radical mode of painting that flourished in a condensed but prolific period from 1946 to 1951. Krasner's varied practice was typified by ceaseless explorations of abstraction, often cued by her abiding interest in the possibilities of nature and color. This manifested in bold collages, gestural canvases and vividly hued hard-edge painting. Historically, Pollock's reputation has eclipsed Krasner's. LIFE Magazine asked in 1949 if Pollock was "the greatest living painter in the United States." His early death and posthumous media attention further amplified his fame and eclipsed critical appraisal of Krasner's contributions. Today, both artists' practices are rightly recognized as key to the innovations of art from the mid-20th century onwards. This exhibition continues and amplifies this reevaluation.
Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous is curated by David Breslin, Leonard A. Lauder Curator in Charge, Modern and Contemporary Art, The Met, and Brinda Kumar, Associate Curator at The Met, with the assistance of CJ Salapare, Research Associate.
