Jackson Pollock
(January 28, 1912 - August 11, 1956) |
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paint splatters Art Work
| Name: |
Jackson Pollock |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Cody, Wyoming, USA |
| Nationality: |
American |
| Birth: |
January 28, 1912 |
| Death: |
August 11, 1956 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
paint splatters |
| Medium: |
oil painting, household paint |
| Method: |
action painting |
| Style: |
Abstract Expressionism |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
Jackson Pollock was born 1912 in Wyoming, but grew up in the American Southwest with a father who was a father and land surveyor. In 1930, Pollock went to New York to study under Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League of New York. During the Depression, Pollock worked under the WPA Federal Art Project, which allowed him to explore new experimental techniques of paint application.
In 1936, Pollock was introduced to liquid paint, which interested him greatly. In the 1940s, the artist began experimenting with the effects of thinner viscosity household paints. He found that the liquidity allowed him to paint by pouring and dripping the paint onto a flat canvas. Pollock rejected the traditional mode of painting using a brush with an upright canvas. Instead, his application tools of choice varied from sticks to basting syringes. His painting method, rather than being an exercise of the wrist and arm only, required the whole movement of his entire body.
Between 1947 and 1950, Pollock's drip painting method became hugely popular and the artist himself rocketed to fame. Among art critics, Pollock's art remained extremely polarizing. Some derided his paint splatters as mindless and meaningless. Others elevated this apparent lack of meaning to be the ultimate purification of painting for its own sake, free from the constraints of political, social, and historical influences. Despite his fame, however, the artist abandoned the technique suddenly and returned to more figurative elements after 1951.
Pollock was an avid believer in nonrepresentational art. Eventually, the artist simply stopped naming his paintings, numbering them instead. Pollock encouraged his viewers to absorb his art as it was without preconceived notions overshadowing its basic elements.
Pollock struggled with chronic alcoholism all life, and the problem often made his tempers unpredictable and violent. At the age of 44, Pollock's artistic career was cut short when he died in a car crash in 1956. |
Samples of Work
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