BARBARA ROSE
91
Lee Krasner:
Natural li ght onl y, never a rtifi cial. He
never
worked a t
night.
Barbara R ose:
I remember bei ng struck by the fact tha t the barn is fill ed
with brilliant li ght from hi gh windows, but entirely cl osed off at eye
level. Was the fact that the studio had good na tural li ght important ?
Lee Krasn er:
Oh, I think so. When the barn was moved, he wanted the
window hi gh , so as not to be able to look out. He didn 't want to be
disturbed by the scene aro und him. He wam ed hi s studi o totall y
closed off, I remember that very definitely. The barn was altered
when it was moved to the side of the house fr om directl y behind the
house where it blocked our view. Where the window should be
placed was reall y the onl y altera tion. A new studi o window was
added. I remember as king him if whether it wouldn 't be a good idea
to
place a nother window someplace else as well as where he sa id . He
said, "No, no, I don 't want to be disturbed by the outside view when
I'm working. "
Barbara R ose:
Wh y did he all ow amuth to photograph him?
L ee
Krasn~;:
I haven 't the faintes t idea. He had been photographed by
other peopl e like Herbert Malter. It wasn't as if he had never been
photographed before Namuth .
Barbara Rose:
But was he ever photographed painting before?
L ee Krasn er:
No. Tha t was the first time and consequeml y the o nl y
time he was photogra phed working.
Barbara R ose:
Did he say anything a bout the experi ence?
Lee Krasner:
In the pas t he said it made him uncomfort able. He
wouldn 't all ow it.
Barbara R ose:
Yet he is not self- conscious in Namuth 's film , not like
someone being observed.
Lee Krasner:
When he was working, I think he would have been
unaware of an ything else.
Barbara R ose:
The glass painting he works on in the film is a curi os ity,
unlike anything else in Pollock's oeuvre. I understa nd it was
Namuth 's idea tha t he sho uld paint on gl ass.
L ee Krasner:
Was it? I was there whil e Pollock painted it, certainl y. But
I was n 't there when Namuth sugges ted tha t he paint on glass. As far
as I'm concerned, Jac kson got a sheet of glass, and decided to paim
on it, and Namuth photographed it.
Barbara R ose:
It didn 't have the sta tus of a n art obj ect until Poll ock
decided it was a painting, however.
L ee Krasner:
The first I hea rd of it, Poll ock showed me a pi ece of g lass.
When I as ked him wha t it was for, he said he wamed to try to paint
