Jackson Pollock - Sillygoose

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“I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them.” – Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock was a prominent American painter known for his unique drip painting style and his role in the abstract expressionist movement. A pioneer in the use of liquid paint, he is considered one of the most significant artists of his generation.

Pollock the Abstract Expressionist

“he had a real hunger for life, and he was always searching for something new and exciting”. – Clyfford Still

Abstract Expressionism is famous for its unstructured and spontaneous brushstrokes, and Jackson Pollock is its most recognizable icon, widely recognized for his dynamic action paintings. His works are monumental contributions to the Abstract Expressionist and the Art world in general.

Jackson Pollock was the quintessential wild artist. A reclusive, complex figure known for his volatile personality and struggle with alcoholism throughout his life. A fiercely independent person, driven and relentless in his pursuit of experimentation and new techniques. His peers respected him for his dedication to his craft and intense focus, despite him being a difficult person.

The Influence

The works of the Mexican painter and muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros had a significant impact on the Abstract expressionist movement. Many other artists, including Pollock, were exposed to his work and ideas. In 1936, Pollock attended a workshop led by Siqueiros. This introduced him to new techniques for using industrial materials. He also learned about applying paint in a more physical, spontaneous way.

His marriage in 1945 to Lee Krasner, an Abstract expressionist herself, left a substantial mark on his career and legacy. Lee was a source of inspiration, guidance, and support and introduced Pollock to the New york art circles. She introduced him to the theories of Freud and Jung, which became a core part of his work. She was simultaneously his greatest critic who shaped his artistic development in subject matter and technique.

The Style

“When I first saw Jackson’s drip paintings, I was overwhelmed. It was the first time I had seen anything like that. I felt as if I had been hit over the head.” – Willem de Kooning

Pollock’s early works (1920s-1930s) featured landscapes and figures with surrealist elements. His art delving into various themes and exploring the subconscious mind in a surrealist manner incorporating Jungian symbols. Pollock experimented with Surrealism and Regionalism (1930s-1940s). His pioneering style known as action painting or drip painting characterized by strong-expressive brushstrokes and drips of paint impulsively applied to the canvas brought him prominence. Considered revolutionary, This spontaneous approach by dripping, pouring, and flinging paint onto large canvases in an apparently arbitrary way created the illusion of movement and a sense of energy.

While advancing his techniques, Pollock used novel mediums of the time. He incorporated synthetic resin-based alkyd enamels, hardened brushes, sticks, and even basting syringes as paint applicators. Laying down his canvases on the studio floor he could view and paint them from all directions.

His work, self-reflexive in nature, embodied a moment in time marked by both the thrill of space exploration and the threat of global atomic destruction. During the Cold War, the art world promoted paintings by Pollock and his peers as symbols of the freedoms upheld in liberal democracies.

Iconic Works: Convergence & Number 11

Convergence by Jackson Pollock - The Artist

Image source: www.Jackson-Pollock.org

“It seems to me that the modern painter cannot express his age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or any other past culture. Each age finds its own technique.” – Jason Pollock (1951)

Pollock’s “drip period” (1947-1950) led to his most famous and acclaimed work. He rose to fame after Life magazine published a four-page spread asking “Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?” (August 8, 1949)

Convergence (1952)—a black-and-white painting that Pollock flung primary colors onto. The painting reflects the crisis of the Cold War. Seen as the embodiment of free speech and expression as opposed to the political propagandist art of socialist realism. Created in 1952, It is one of his masterworks and might also be the most well-known painting by an abstract expressionist.

Number 11 by Jackson Pollock — “Number 11” by Jackson Pollock

Image source: www.Jackson-Pollock.org

Number 11 (1952) — A richly layered painting with a web of patterns and colors, patches of mustard yellow, sea green, and rust-brown emerging through a tangled skein of white, spidery lines with prominent blue verticle lines.

Pollock renamed his work “Blue Poles” to Number 11 to emphasize the whole painting. He wanted viewers to experience the entire artwork, not just the blue lines, so he numbered it to remove particular focus. Contrary to popular belief “Number 11” was not created in a fit of anger, rather it was methodically constructed over some time.

The Sidney Janis Gallery unvield Number 11 in 1952. Japan saw Number 11 as one of the first works of abstract expressionism to be exhibited.

Late Period

His work after 1951 was darker in color and did not sell well. He later returned to using color and continued with figurative elements. During this period, Pollock moved to a more commercial gallery and the demand for his work from collectors was great. In response to this pressure, along with personal frustration, his alcoholism deepened. In 1955, Pollock painted “Scent” and “Search”, his last two paintings. He did not paint in 1956 but made sculptures of wire, gauze, and plaster at Tony Smith’s home.

Tragic End

Sadly, in the summer of 1956, Jackson Pollock died in a tragic car accident at the young age of 44. The accident was caused by his impaired driving while under the influence of alcohol, leading to him being thrown out of the car. His companion, the artist Ruth Kligman, was the only survivor of the crash.

Pollock received a memorial retrospective exhibition at MoMA in New York City four months after his death in 1956. In 1967, a more comprehensive exhibition of his work was held there. His work was honored with large-scale retrospective exhibitions at MoMA and The Tate in London in 1998 and 1999.

Legacy

Jackson Pollock revolutionized art by breaking down traditional boundaries and opening new avenues of expression through his contributions to the Abstract Expressionist movement, becoming the first avant-garde American art movement to receive international recognition.

Dark Secret Rumor

One rumor about Jackson Pollock is that he used to hide images in his drip paintings. The rumor states that if you view his paintings from a certain angle or with a certain technique, you can see hidden images such as faces or animals. This theory was put forward by some art critics and enthusiasts, but it has not been proven and is not widely accepted in the art world. It’s important to note that Pollock’s works are considered as abstract expressionism and the meaning behind his paintings is open to interpretation.

What is Pollock Worth?

In 2006, Pollock’s painting “No. 5, 1948” sold for a record $140 million at a Christie’s auction, and his “Number 17A” sold for $200 million in 2016. These prices set the record for the highest price ever paid for a painting at auction. It’s worth noting that only a very small number of his works are available on the market, and that’s why the prices are so high.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy has several of his works, as well as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Additionally, many private collectors have also bought his works and have them in their collection.

Ben Heller, a well-known collector of Abstract Expressionist, supported Abstract expressionist artists when few others were interested. He collected major works by artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, and Barnett Newman. Before his death in 2019, he donated these artworks to world-renowned museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Additionally, many of these artworks remained in his own apartment on Central Park West, attracting thousands of visitors each year. Rothko even referred to Heller’s apartment as “the Frick of the West Side,” drawing a comparison to the famous Frick Collection in New York City.