Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in their House

Namuth, born in Germany, spent his early life engaged in politics and the fine arts. While his father joined the Nazi party in 1931, Namuth joined the liberal-leaning German Youth Movement. In 1933, when Namuth was arrested for distributing anti-Nazi materials, his father arranged for him to be sent to Paris. During his initial exile in Paris, Namuth was introduced to photography and photojournalism. As WWII tensions increased, Namuth was interned and joined the French Foreign Legion to avoid extended imprisonment, before escaping to the US in 1941. He was drafted for the War in 1943, where he worked as an interpreter and interrogator for the intelligence services. He left the Army in 1945 after the war, having been awarded the Purple Heart and Croix de Guerre. Living in New York, he returned to photography full-time and studied with Alexey Brodovitch, Art Director of Harper’s Bazaar, who introduced Namuth to many important art world figures, including Jackson Pollock.

Namuth met Pollock in the summer of 1950 at an opening of a group exhibition on Long Island. Namuth followed up with a visit to Pollock’s studio in nearby Springs, NY, taking more than 500 photographs of the artist in his studio from July to October of that year and capturing Pollock’s iconic “drip painting” technique. Namuth’s documentation of Pollock changed the way the public viewed the artist and his work. The photographs Namuth took between July and October of 1950 yield key insights into Pollock’s inventive process, and changed the direction of Namuth’s career. After his work with Pollock, Namuth continued photographing creatives at work.

The double portrait of Pollock and Krasner in their house is emotionally loaded with details in their facial expressions and body gestures that seem to reflect their tense relationship and gender dynamic. Despite being one of the greatest mid-century American artists, Krasner was 75 before she got her first American retrospective, and the artist still remains underappreciated compared to Pollock.

The AMAM owns five screenprints and one overpainted engraving by Pollock and no works by Krasner. These photographs join other portraits of artists in their studios, including a photograph of Willem de Kooning, a contemporary and friend of Pollock and Krasner.