Deborah Solomon
AN INTERVIEW WITH
HELEN FRANKENTHALER
DS:
You first visited the Pollocks at their home in Springs, East
Hampton, in the spring of 1951. Lee Krasner was then preparing
for her first one-man show, which was held at the Betty Parsons
Gallery the following fall. You were accompanied by Clement
Greenberg. Do you remember whether Lee talked about her paint–
ings or took you up to the bedroom that she used as her studio?
HF:
Yes. I think the feeling out there was much more ... her con–
cern with Jackson's work. And what he was up to . His mood per–
meated the menage. But one was fully aware of Lee's interest and
seriousness in relation to her own work, and I would say that after
full attention had been given to Jackson's paintings, his being the
main emphasis, then we would almost always look at Lee's studio
upstairs. I remember, one of the associations with her work then,
among others, was that of Tobey.
DS:
You're referring to her
Little Images?
HF:
Yes. She was serious . But I think she herself felt that she was
married to a great artist who needed more than the usual tender
loving care.
DS:
You didn't see Jackson paint. Is that correct?
HF:
Correct.
DS:
But he would come into the house and invite you into the studio.
HF:
Well, it was assumed that we would be going out there [to the
studio] soon after we arrived . . . the main interest was in seeing
a new body of work in his studio. We all knew that's what was go–
ing to happen . The actual process of his work I had only known
about from something like
Life
magazine.
DS:
He was sullen. Did you ever attempt to talk to Pollock about his
work when you first met him?
HF:
He was sullen, often seemingly shy, humble . But I think his
sullenness was out of a real inability to relate soberly. And there–
fore one had to read it as the pain of his shyness. In retrospect, he
was probably suffering terribly himself. Eventually, being out
Editor's Note: This interview was conducted on March 5, 1984, at the artist's studio
in New York City in preparation for the forthcoming biography ofJackson Pollock
by Deborah Solomon.
