Icarus

Waves of hot pink, fiery orange, and deep crimson tumble across this large canvas, painted by Lee Krasner in 1964. She called it "Icarus," after the young man from Greek myth who soared upward on wings of wax and feathers, flew too near the sun, and plunged to earth when they melted. The brushwork twists and swirls like something rising and then crashing down, all heat and motion, without a single recognizable wing or body in sight.

Krasner was a major force in Abstract Expressionism, the American movement built on bold gestures and raw feeling. For much of her career she was overshadowed by her husband, the painter Jackson Pollock, but pieces like this prove her talent stood entirely on its own. After Pollock died in a car crash in 1956, Krasner struggled with sleep and often worked late into the night, which gave her later paintings a churning, almost feverish energy.

Rather than illustrate the myth directly, she let color carry the emotion. The glowing warm tones feel both beautiful and dangerous at once, a fitting match for a story about reaching too high. It is a reminder that grand ambitions can lift us up and just as quickly bring us down.