Artist: Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984)
Title: "Poem"
Portfolio: In Memory of My Feelings
*Issued unsigned
Year: 1967 (First edition)
Medium: Original Lithograph on Mohawk Superfine Smooth paper
Limited edition: 514/2,500
Printer: Crafton Graphic Company, Inc., New York, NY
Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Reference: "Lee Krasner: A Catalogue Raisonné" - Landau No. 447, page 236-237; "Lee Krasner" - Hobbs No. 64, page 143
Sheet size: 12" x 18"
Condition: In excellent condition
Rare
Notes:
With centerfold as issued. Numbered on colophon page. Comes from the 1967 "In Memory of My Feelings: A Selection of Poems" book volume by Frank O'Hara with approx. 46 unbound original lithographs by various artists. Collaboration: Edward Katz (printing). The last image of the complete book is for reference/provenance; it is not included.
This image Krasner contributed to "In Memory of My Feelings: A Selection of Poems" by Frank O'Hara, edited by Bill Berkson, for the Museum of Modern Art. The project was published in 1967 in memory of Frank O'Hara, poet and associate curator at the museum, who died in a tragic accident in 1966. Bill Berkson (with the assistance of Kenneth Koch and John Ashbery) selected the poems and (with advice from Robert Motherwell) asked the following artists to contribute: Nell Blaine, Norman Bluhm, Joe Branaird, John Buton, Giorgio Cavallon, Allan D'Arcangelo, Elaine de Kooning, Willem de Kooning, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Michael Goldberg, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Al Held, Jasper Johns, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Alex Katz, Lee Krasner, Alfred Leslie, Roy Lichtenstein, Marisol, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Reuben Nakian, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, and Jane Wilson.
Each artist was given a copy of the text of the appropriate poem, in gallery-proof form with page layouts, along with a sheet of plastic, called Copyrite, on which to draw. The translucent plastic could be placed directly over the layout to execute the drawing. Plates were then made from the drawings on plastic. All of the drawings are now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The book, which includes approximately 46 lithographs, in unbound, housed in off-white linen- and gray paper- covered boards inside an off-white linen-covered slipcase. Each of the 54 folios has printed on the front the folio number, artist's name, and title of the poem. The image is printed on the left side of the interior of the folio, with the poem text on the right. The book was designed by Susan Draper Tundisi. The folder and slipcase were fabricated by Russell-Rutter, Inc..
"Krasner made only 23 prints, all between 1962 and 1975. But that factual summary understates their significance: Krasner's prints reflect stylistically her paintings, sometimes restating or elaborating her own themes, sometimes examples of trends among artist at a particular period - such as prints produced for cause-related portfolios - and an illustration for an artist-poet collaborative work." - ('Print Quarterly', Vol. 18, No. 4, December, 2001, page 396 - Reba White Williams).