Thaw 1957

Lee Krasner made this painting, ‘Thaw’, with oil on canvas and it feels like she’s searching for something. You can see it in the way she works the surface, the way the colors are laid down, almost tentatively, like she's not quite sure what's going to happen next. The paint itself has a kind of roughness; it’s thick in places, thin in others. Look at that deep purple form on the lower left. It's not just one color; it’s made up of layers, of decisions made and unmade. It’s like a record of her thinking. And then there's that little burst of teal, those quick gestures that suggest leaves or maybe feathers, like spring bursting out all over the place. For me, Krasner is in conversation with artists like Joan Mitchell, who also embraced the messy, unresolved energy of painting as a way of finding something new. It's a reminder that art isn’t about answers but about asking better questions.