The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center dates back to the late
19th century. The land was purchased in 1878 by James S. Corwin, a local
fisherman, who built a house on the lot. In 1888, Mr. Corwin sold the property
to Adeline H. King, who sold it two years later to David Howard, another
fisherman. His son John Howard and his family lived in the house until 1926,
when David Howard sold the property to John Quinn, who worked for the town
highway department. His son Howard Quinn inherited it in 1933, and after his
death in 1944, his estate put it on the market.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner were shown the property by Edward
Cook. The couple moved in on November 5, 1945. The deed was transferred
the Pollocks on April 15, 1946. They later bought adjacent land, eventually
owning five acres. Lee had a studio area in the back parlor, and Jackson
painted in an unheated upstairs bedroom. In June 1946, he had the barn moved
from behind the house to the north side of the property and renovated it as his
studio.
Lee continued to work in the house until after Jackson’s death,
when she began using the barn studio. Initially the house had no central
heating or indoor plumbing. Over time the couple made many improvements—one of
the earliest was a back porch extension that accommodated an indoor toilet. In
December 1949, after Jackson’s very successful solo exhibition at the Betty
Parsons Gallery, they had enough money to install full plumbing and central
heating, and in the spring they had the house shingled. After Jackson’s
death in August 1956, Lee divided her time between Springs and New York City.
She painted many of her major canvases in the barn studio between 1957 and
1982, after which ill health curtailed her productivity.
The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center was created under the
terms of Lee Krasner Pollock’s will. She instructed her executors to deed the
property to a charitable institution. She envisioned it as “a public museum and
library,” to show the setting in which she and Jackson created many of their
works, and as a place for the study of modern American art, especially the
eastern Long Island art community. In 1987 the property was deeded to the
Stony Brook Foundation, a private, non-profit affiliate of Stony Brook
University.
In 1987-88, a team from New York Conservation Associates removed
pressed wood squares that covered the floor, peeled up a layer of tar paper and
revealed the floor surface on which Pollock painted from 1946-1952. The floor
was then cleaned of tar paper residue.
When that covering was removed, the original floorboards were
found to be intact, complete with the remnants of Jackson’s most famous poured
paintings, including Autumn Rhythm, Convergence, Blue Poles, and Lavender
Mist. The painted surface was stabilized by a team of art conservators,
and an exhibition of photographs and text panels chronicling the two artists’
careers was installed on the walls. The museum was opened to the public in June
1988.
Source:
“Pollock-Krasner House
and Study Center.” History, www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/pkhouse/our-story/history.php
