Pollock Krasner House

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