Jackson Pollock papers and Lee Krasner papers about Jackson Pollock
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
label: Collection Creator
content: Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984
setName: label: See more items in
content: Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.4 Linear Feet (Box 1-7, 16, OV 18, FC 19-22)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1914-1984
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.polljack, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: This series is arranged into 10 subseries:

1.1: Biographical Material, circa 1938-1956

1.2: Correspondence, circa 1929-1984

1.3: Writings by Others, 1950-circa 1983

1.4: James Valliere Research Material on Jackson Pollock, 1963-1972

1.5: Business Records, circa 1942-1983

1.6: Printed Material, 1942-1983

1.7: Scrapbooks, 1943-1957

1.8: Artwork by Others, undated

1.9: Photographs, circa 1914-1969

1.10: Audio and Video Recordings and Film, 1964, 1966
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: This series has been scanned in its entirety, except for photographs of works of art, copy prints and negatives, motion picture film, published books, and a few folders of newsclippings. All of the sound recordings in this series have also been digitized for research access.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This series contains Jackson Pollock's papers and Lee Krasner's papers about managing Jackson Pollock's artistic legacy. Biographical material includes artist statements and notes, a transcript of an interview with William Wright and the original audio recording, Pollock's birth certificate, and his passport. Correspondence, both personal and professional and spanning 55 years, includes Pollock's and Krasner's correspondence with museums, gallery owners, biographers, students, fans, family, and fellow artists. Correspondents include, among others, Pollock's teacher Thomas Hart Benton and friends Reginald Isaacs, Clyfford Still, Alfonso Ossorio, and Tony Smith. Writings about Pollock include drafts of essays, articles, lectures, and biographies and include essays by Lee Krasner and Clement Greenberg.

James Valliere extensive research files on Pollock for a never-published biography were given to Krasner. The files include scattered research notes, an inventory of Pollock's library, correspondence with Lee Krasner, and Pollock's family and friends, including Charles Pollock, Thomas Hart Benton, and Robert Motherwell. There are also transcripts of interviews Valliere conducted with Pollock's friends and colleagues, including James Brooks, Dorothy Dehner, Clement Greenberg, Reuben Kadish, Lee Krasner, Charles Maddox, Mrs. Sanford McCoy, Daniel T. Miller, Robert Miller, and Tony Smith. The original audio reels and duplicate tapes for many of the transcripts are filed here. There are photographs of two of the interview sessions. Audio recordings for which there are no transcripts are filed in series 1.10 Audio and Video Recordings and Film. 

Business records primarily concern Lee Krasner's handling of the exhibition and sale of Pollock's artwork after his death. Included are a guest book for the Venice "Bienale", exhibition lists, account statements and inventory lists, lists of owners of his work, appraisal documents, legal documents, receipts, and other miscellaneous records. Printed material consists of book proofs, numerous newspaper and magazine clippings spanning forty years, and as well as exhibition catalogs, announcements, and invitations to solo and group exhibitions. This series also includes two scrapbooks kept by Pollock and Krasner of news clippings and exhibition announcements, and one sketchbook by an unidentified artist.

Numerous rare photographs found in this series include those of Pollock as a child, with his family and friends, with Lee Krasner, and at work in his Long Island studio, some of which were taken by photographers Hans Namuth and Rudy Burckhardt. Also found are photographs of exhibitions of Pollock's artwork. Audio and video recordings and film in this series include the motion picture film "Jackson Pollock: A Reconsideration," VHS copies of same, and several untranscribed reel-to-reel audio recordings of interviews about Pollock with Alfonso Ossorio, Willem De Kooning, Ruth and Tino Nivola, and Burton Rouche conducted by James Valliere during his research. Audio recordings of interviews with transcripts are filed with Valliere's research files in 1.4.