1. Jackson Pollock
Photograph of Jackson Pollock by Hans Namuth, 1950.

2. LeRoy & Stella Pollock & their sons, 1918
LeRoy and Stella Pollock and their sons, 1918, Charles Pollock Archives
Jackson Pollock in California, 1927, photo unknown source
Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912 in Cody Wyoming, the youngest of five boys in a working class family.
His mother, Stella was a seamstress and had a strong, domineering and overbearing personality.
Pollock’s father, LeRoy changed jobs frequently, and the family had to move often during his childhood.
Pollock was a withdrawn child, rebellious, and impulsive child who had difficulty in school.
He attended Manual Arts High School and enjoyed drawing from an early age. His art teacher encouraged him to study drawing and work in clay, but he was kicked out of school twice.
How do you think Pollock’s childhood affected him as an artist?
LeRoy & Stella Pollock & their sons, 1918
Jackson Pollock in California, 1927

3. Going West, Jackson Pollock, 1934-35
Untitled Sketch, Jackson Pollock, 1937–39, Colored pencils and graphite on paper,18 x 12 in. (45.7 x 30.5, 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Going West, Jackson Pollock, , oil on fiberboard,15 1/8 x 20 3/4 in. (38.3 x 52.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum.
At age 17 Pollock decided he wanted to be an artist, and in 1930 he moved to New York to live in Greenwich Village with two of his brothers.
He enrolled in the New York Art Students League where he studied with Thomas Hart Benton. Benton encouraged Pollock to study the Baroque masters in order to learn about rhythm and geometry.
Pollock joined the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project and was inspired by other artists at that time including Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueros.
Pollock worked many odd jobs to make a living including babysitting for Benton’s son, and spending a summer as a lumberjack.
Pollock studied and sketched master paintings, looking for the geometry and rhythm. How is his painting similar to the sketch on the left?
Going West, Jackson Pollock,
Untitled Sketch, Jackson Pollock, 1937–39

4. Guardians of the Secret, Jackson Pollock, 1943
Guardians of the Secret, Jackson Pollock, 1943, oil on canvas, 48 3/8 in. x 75 3/8 in. ( cm x cm), Collection SFMOMA.
Existentialism was a common theme in the arts in post-war New York. Existentialists believed that humans have their choice of actions, and that their choices and actions define their identity.
Artists, poets, musicians, and actors at this time highly valued personal expression and Beat poetry, Jazz, stream of consciousness writing, and method acting were popular.
Where are the Guardians in this painting? What do you think the symbols represent?
Guardians of the Secret, Jackson Pollock, 1943

5. Orange Head, Jackson Pollock, 1938-1941
Orange Head, Jackson Pollock, , oil on canvas, Collection Lee Krasner Pollock, Courtesy Jason McCoy, Inc., New York. 
Pollock’s eccentric personality made him stand out in the art world.
He was exposed to a variety of art styles and found inspiration in the cubist work of Picasso, Native American and African art, and the expressive, dream-like work of the Surrealists.
Pollock was interested in the expressive skills of the artists he admired. What does this painting express? What mood do you think the painting has?
Orange Head, Jackson Pollock,

6. Masqued Image, Jackson Pollock, 1938
Masqued Image, Jackson Pollock, 1938, Oil on canvas, 40 x 24 inches, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
In 1941, Pollock was invited by John Graham to exhibit work at McMillen Gallery. Here he met Lee Krasner, a well-established fellow artist.
Krasner admired Pollock’s work and they became close friends and later married in 1941.
Krasner was intelligent, talented, and organized, and she helped Pollock with business matters. Pollock and Krasner both had strong personalities and they had many conflicts and arguments throughout their marriage.
Why do you think Pollock found it easier to communicate through pictures instead of words?
What does this painting say about Pollock’s personality?
Masqued Image, Jackson Pollock, 1938

7. Stenographic Figure, Jackson Pollock, 1942
Stenographic Figure, Jackson Pollock, 1942, oil on linen, 40 x 56" (101.6 x cm), Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Pollack had difficulty expressing himself with words. When he was emotional, it was easier for him to paint or draw.
These drawing revealed Pollock’s internal conflicts, and served as inspiration for his artwork.
How is this painting different from Masqued Image that we just saw?
How do you think Pollock was feeling when he made this painting?
Stenographic Figure, Jackson Pollock, 1942

8. Mural, Jackson Pollock, 1943, Oil and casein on canvas, 95 5/8 x 237 3/4 in., University of Iowa Museum of Art, gift of Peggy Guggenheim.
After the WPA closed in 1943, Pollock was forced to find other jobs. He worked as a custodian at the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, and was discovered by Peggy Guggenheim
She exhibited his work in her gallery, Art of This Century, later offering him a contract and commissioning a large painting for her apartment.
This painting, Mural was a breakthrough for Pollock as it was the first of his very large canvases and it displayed the beginning of his drip technique.
Why do you think this painting is considered a breakthrough? How is it different from Pollock’s earlier paintings?
Mural, Jackson Pollock, 1943

9. Cathedral, Jackson Pollock, 1947
Cathedral, Jackson Pollock, 1947, enamel and aluminum paint on canvas, x cm, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas, USA
The 1940s were the height of the ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM movement in New York. This term encompassed a wide variety of artists with different styles, who were all focused on using the two-dimensional canvas as an arena for personal expression.
Their work was NON-OBJECTIVE, requiring no recognizable subject matter other than the paint on the canvas.
Why do you think it was important to remove objects or images in abstract expressionist paintings? What did Pollock use to communicate in his artwork instead of images or figures?
Cathedral, Jackson Pollock, 1947

10. Full Fathom Five, Jackson Pollock, 1947
Full Fathom Five, Jackson Pollock, 1947, Oil on canvas with nails, tacks, buttons, key, coins, cigarettes, matches, etc., 50 7/8 x 30 1/8" (129.2 x 76.5 cm), Museum of Modern Art, New York.
This painting style was controversial, but art critic Clement Greenberg touted Pollock as the greatest painter of all time.
Life Magazine did a story questioning if Jackson Pollock was the greatest living artist in the United States.
Pollock struggled with being self-conscious after the fame of the Life Magazine story.
How does this painting express Pollock’s personality? How would you describe Pollock based on his paintings?
Full Fathom Five, Jackson Pollock, 1947

11. Lavender Mist, Number 1, Jackson Pollock, 1950
Lavender Mist, Number 1, Jackson Pollock, 1950, oil, enamel, and aluminum on canvas, 221 x cm (87 x 118 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
In 1947 Pollock transitioned to Betty Parsons Gallery and continued to refine his DRIP PAINTING technique.
He splashed, swirled, and splattered industrial paint onto un-stretched canvases on the floor, moving around all sides of the canvas as he worked.
Lavender Mist, Number 1, Jackson Pollock, 1950

12. Autumn Rhythm, Jackson Pollock, 1950
Autumn Rhythm, Jackson Pollock, 1950, oil, enamel, and aluminum on canvas, 221 x cm (87 x 118 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
His paint drips and splatters are GESTURAL, showing the RHYTHMIC PATTERNS he made while creating the work.
Another art critic at this time, Harold Rosenberg termed this style ACTION PAINTING, because the painting documents the artist’s movements and action.
We often think of rhythm in music or dance. What kind of music would this painting be? What kind of dance would this painting represent?
Autumn Rhythm, Jackson Pollock, 1950

13. Echo: Number 25,1951, Jackson Pollock, 1951
Echo: Number 25, 1951, Jackson Pollock, 1951, Enamel paint on canvas, 7' 7 7/8" x 7' 2" (233.4 x cm), Museum of Modern Art.
After his drip paintings Pollock’s work changed again and he created many paintings by pouring black paint onto long strips of canvas.
He used similar tools to his drip paintings, but showed more control over his technique.
Later he cut apart the canvas into individual artworks.
Echo: Number 25,1951, Jackson Pollock, 1951

14. Easter and the Totem, Jackson Pollock, 1953
Easter and the Totem, Jackson Pollock, 1953, oil on canvas, 6' 10 1/8" x 58" (208.6 x cm), Museum of Modern Art, New York.
He eventually returned to using a brush and included figurative imagery in his work but struggled through with mental illness. He was often not in control of his emotions. During this time, he struggled creatively and with a drinking problem.
When returned to painting, began including imagery again-totems, figures, animals, faces, eyes, etc. using brush, palette knife, more traditional tools/methods.
How is the style different than his other paintings we saw? Which do you prefer?
Easter and the Totem, Jackson Pollock, 1953

15. Blue Poles, Number 11, Jackson Pollock, 1952
Blue Poles, Number 11, Jackson Pollock, 1952, enamel paint on canvas, x cm, National Gallery of Australia.
In 1956, Pollack drove after drinking and died in a car accident that killed himself and another passenger.
His mastery of the non-objective style brought American art to the forefront of contemporary art.
Blue Poles, Number 11, Jackson Pollock, 1952