Pollock-Krasner Foundation

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation is a nonprofit grantmaking organization established to support artists and preserve the legacies of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. Founded in 1985, it manages the estates and artworks associated with Pollock and Krasner and distributes grants and art resources to individual artists and cultural institutions. The foundation operates from New York and interacts with museums, galleries, collectors, and academic institutions to advance modern and contemporary art.

History

The foundation was created through the estate planning of Lee Krasner following the death of Jackson Pollock and the subsequent stewardship of their artistic estates. In its early years the foundation coordinated estate matters with institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate Modern, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and university collections like Yale University and Harvard University. Legal and curatorial disputes over authentication and provenance brought the foundation into contact with entities including the Art Dealers Association of America, the New York County Supreme Court, and auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's. Over time the foundation negotiated gift and loan agreements with museums like the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Centre Pompidou.

Mission and Activities

The foundation's mission centers on supporting working artists and maintaining the artistic legacy of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. It engages with curators from institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, collaborates with scholars from Columbia University and New York University, and supports exhibitions at venues including the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The foundation administers authenticity issues that intersect with legal frameworks like the Visual Artists Rights Act and partners with conservation scientists from the Smithsonian Institution and the Getty Conservation Institute to preserve paintings and papers. It also liaises with foundations such as the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Graham Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation.

Grants and Programs

The foundation awards grants to individuals and institutions through programs informed by practices at organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Grants have been used by recipients to support studio work, residencies at centers such as the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, and research in archives like the Getty Research Institute and the Archives of American Art. The foundation’s grant review processes involve advisors and jurors drawn from curators at the Tate Britain, professors at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, directors from the Hammer Museum, and critics writing for publications like Artforum, Art in America, and the New York Times. It has offered emergency relief modeled alongside the Emergency Grants programs of peer institutions during crises affecting artists and cultural workers.

Governance and Funding

Governance has been shaped by trustees and directors with ties to institutions including Barnard College, Pratt Institute, and the Cooper Union. Financial management references investment practices used by nonprofit endowments at The Rockefeller University and compliance frameworks aligned with New York State nonprofit law and federal tax regulation administered by the Internal Revenue Service. The foundation’s funding derives from the Pollock and Krasner estates, income from artwork loans and deaccessions conducted through auction houses like Phillips de Pury, and philanthropic contributions resembling approaches used by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Audit and grantmaking policies have been informed by nonprofit consultants and legal advisers connected to law firms active in arts law.

Impact and Legacy

The foundation has influenced museum collecting, scholarly research, and market practices related to Abstract Expressionism and postwar painting, affecting exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum, retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, and symposiums sponsored by universities such as Princeton University and Rutgers University. Its grants have supported generations of painters, sculptors, and mixed-media practitioners whose work has appeared at the Venice Biennale, the Documenta exhibitions, and international fairs like Art Basel. The foundation’s stewardship of the Pollock and Krasner estates intersects with scholarship by authors and critics such as H. H. Arnason, Linda Nochlin, and Harold Rosenberg, and has informed provenance research used by museums including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Chicago Art Institute. Its legacy includes bolstering the careers of emerging artists and sustaining the public presence of two central figures in twentieth-century art history.

Category:Arts foundations in the United States Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City