Pollock, << POL uhk, >> Jackson (1912-1956), was one of the most influential American painters in the history of modern art. Pollock was a major figure in the art movement that became known as Abstract Expressionism.
Pollock created his most important work between 1947 and 1952. Instead of using a traditional easel, Pollock tacked his canvases onto the floor. He worked from all four sides, applying the paint from a can or using brushes, sticks, and turkey basters. Sometimes he even stepped onto the canvas itself. These paintings had no subject matter. They consisted of webs of poured lines and drips made from oil paint, commercial enamels, and aluminum paint. He sometimes added other materials, such as sand or broken glass. The result was sweeping, rhythmic patterns of line that seemed to weave across the surface with great energy or subtle delicacy.
Pollock wrote, “When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I am doing…the painting has a life of its own.” This statement supports the idea that Pollock’s paintings emerged from his subconscious mind, with little regard for conventional artistic standards concerning such elements as composition, color, or drawing.
Pollock numbered many of his paintings but seldom gave them titles. He believed titles distracted the viewer by suggesting symbolism or subject matter not intended by the artist.
Pollock was born on Jan. 28, 1912, in Cody, Wyoming, and grew up in Arizona and California. In 1930 , he moved to New York City, where he studied at the Art Students League until 1933. He had moved to New York to study with Thomas Hart Benton, a leader of the Regionalist movement in American painting. This movement glorified traditional American values in art, especially those of the rural Midwest, and it insisted on the rejection of European ideas. After becoming an abstract painter, Pollock recalled Benton and his conservative Regionalist style as “something against which to react very strongly.” In 1936, Pollock joined the Experimental Workshop of the Mexican mural artist David Siqueiros, who encouraged him to experiment with new materials and techniques.
In 1944, Pollock married the American painter Lee Krasner, who provided him with crucial support and encouragement. During the last four years of his life, Pollock’s style returned to certain figurative references found in his early painting. Pollock died in an automobile accident on Aug. 11, 1956.
See also Abstract Expressionism ; Krasner, Lee ; Painting (Abstract Expressionism)
