Two Painters, One Marriage, and a Big New York Show
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is putting two painters who were married to each other side by side in one large exhibition. The Art Newspaper's Big Review gave the show, 'Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous', a total rating of 4.5 stars, in a review published on 9 November 2026.
The painters are Lee Krasner (1908-84) and Jackson Pollock (1912-56). Both were first-generation Abstract Expressionists, the mid-century New York painters known for large, energetic canvases. They met in 1942, when Krasner was better known in that circle than Pollock. They married in 1945.
The show is curated by two Met curators, David Breslin and Brinda Kumar. At the press preview, Breslin said: "I don't think we would have a Jackson Pollock if it weren't for what Krasner did to support his work."
The Art Newspaper called the exhibition gorgeous and largely convincing. It said the show reveals how closely the two artists were tied to each other. The review gave the works 5 stars and the show itself 4.
The Met first announced the exhibition on 24 February 2026, in a press release from the museum. According to Artforum's ArtGuide listing, it features more than 120 works. The same listing describes it as the first major New York show devoted to either artist in more than 20 years.
The title refers to a painting in the show. The Art Newspaper described 'Past Continuous' as a mixed-media work, meaning it combines materials such as paint and paper, that includes a collage of drawings made years earlier. A collage is an artwork built by gluing pieces of paper or other material onto a surface.
The show also lands in a market where both painters' work has sold for large sums. Krasner's auction record is US$11.7 million, set at Sotheby's in 2019 for 'The Eye is the First Circle' (1960). An auction record is the highest price the artist's work has fetched at auction. Pollock's 'Number 7A' (1948) sold at Christie's in 2026 for US$181.2 million, and the same review noted that financier Ken Griffin paid David Geffen a reported US$200 million in 2016 for Pollock's 'Number 17A' (1948).
For visitors, the appeal is the chance to see two careers in one place. The show asks people to look at the paintings alongside each other, not one at a time. Anyone planning a trip should check the Met's website for opening dates, ticket prices and visiting hours before going.
