Lee Krasner (1908-1984) only produced 23 prints during her lifetime, but the gestures and compositions of her prints speak directly to her characteristic painting style. Her limited lithograph output makes Long Lines for Lee Krasner, a complete set of nine prints from an edition of only fifteen, especially rare.
Long Lines was directly inspired by a set of three lithographs Krasner produced in 1969, known as her Primary Series. To create these prints, so named for her choice of red (or rose), blue, and gold ink, Krasner worked directly on the lithographic stone. As she recounted in 1973, this process proved difficult for her, but she ultimately decided to accept any accidents that occurred as part of the artworks. These accidents proved fruitful, for in 1970 she employed the same set of lithographic stones to produce Long Lines. For this series the artist continued to embrace improvisation and experimentation. To achieve the wide amount of variation seen in Long Lines, Krasner applied different amounts of ink to the lithographic stones, making each of the lithographs a unique print.
The complete portfolio features nine prints, three in each of the same colors used in Primary Series. The set also includes a lithographed sheet of an original poem by Richard Howard. Krasner's decision to include a poem with the prints likely stemmed from a project she completed a few years prior. Following the tragic death of Frank O'Hara, a writer and a curator at The Museum of Modern Art, in 1966, poet Bill Berkson was tasked with creating a publication to commemorate his life and work. Berkson assigned one of O'Hara's poem to each of the thirty participating artists. The artists then responded to the poems with unique works drawn on a translucent plastic that were then made into an illustrated book. Krasner's contribution to the book, later titled In Memory of My Feelings, was a lithograph printed with sepia ink. This set of Long Lines prints is especially unique given the inclusion of Howard's original poem, making the portfolio akin to a time capsule of this period of Krasner's artistic life.
Replete with layers of color, the prints in Long Lines evoke Krasner's large-scale abstract paintings. However, the works also reveal the ways in which Krasner's printmaking practice directly impacted her highly regarded collage works. Later in 1970, Krasner would create her last lithograph, making Long Lines an exceptionally important artifact of her limited but influential printmaking career.
This set retains its original portfolio cover and colophon with poem by Richard Howard.
Each of the 15 sets of this remarkable portfolio is unique.

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