January 28 marks the 104th birthday of Jackson Pollock, the abstract expressionist who rewrote the rules of representation and helped spearhead a new form of uniquely American art. A darling of the New York scene, his turbulent career was marked by depression and alcoholism coupled with a remarkable will to create. Read on for the ultimate A-Z guide to his life and work.
A is for Abstract Expressionism
Jackson Pollock is arguably the most important figure in the American artistic movement after World War 2 known as Abstract Expressionism. It prioritised personal, spontaneous creation outside the bounds of classical representation. As it came to the fore during the McCarthyite era, it was considered a safe option for many artists to explore as it didn’t refer to anything political.
“Blue Poles (Number 11),” 1952 by Jackson Pollock
B is for “Blue Poles”
“Blue Poles” — one of Pollock’s most famous paintings — started a national debate in Australia in 1973 regarding its usefulness after it was sold for A$1.3 million to the National Gallery. Time has proven it to be a wise investment.
C is for The Cold War
Pollock’s standing in the ’50s was so high that he was heavily sponsored by the CIA-backed Congress for Cultural Freedom. This led thinker Eva Cockcroft to consider him an ideological “weapon of the cold war”.
D is for Depression
Jackson Pollock suffered from depression most of his life, a fact which manifested itself in alcoholism. He met his end in a car crash under the influence at the mere age of 44.
E is for Ed Harris
Pollock was portrayed in the eponymous film by Ed Harris. The film was well received for showing the process of artistic creation and earned Harris an Oscar nomination.
F is for Fractals
Physicist and artist Richard Taylor claimed in 1999 that Pollock’s work could be seen as mathematically consistent, giving rise to a term known as Fractal Expressionism. According to him, it was the unique fractal make up that distinguished Pollock’s paintings as unique from any imitations. However, the jury is still out on whether or not Jackson Pollock’s works can be analysed in this way.
G is for Guggenheim
One of Pollock’s biggest sponsors during his career was art collector and socialite Peggy Guggenheim. They signed a gallery contract together in 1943 which would go on to kickstart his career.
H is for History
According to polarising critic Clement Greenberg, Jackson Pollock’s work was considered to be the natural endpoint of artistic expression. It was so startling because all extemporaneous detail was removed in favour of a completely pure form of painting.
I is for Influences
One of the key moments in Pollock’s development as a painter came in 1936, when he went to an experimental workshop by David Alfaro Siqueiros, the Mexican social realist painter, better known for his large murals in fresco. From there he started to use his trademark pouring style, which borrowed heavily from Mexican muralists, surrealist automatism, American Indian sandpainting, and the work and writings of Wolfgang Paalen.
J is for “Jack The Dripper”
Jackson Pollock’s wild style — in which he would pin his canvas to the floor before crawling on top of it, thus allowing him to spontaneously paint from all directions — led him to be called “Jack the Dripper” by Time Magazine in 1956.
K is for de Kooning
Fellow abstract expressionist William de Kooning said of Pollock: “Every so often, a painter has to destroy painting. Cézanne did it, Picasso did it with Cubism. Then Pollock did it. He busted our idea of a picture all to hell. Then there could be new paintings again.” Yet sadly for him, Pollock wasn’t so reverent in return, calling him out at a party: “you’re still doing the same goddamn thing. You know you never got out of being a figure painter.”
L is for Lee Krasner
Jackson Pollock met fellow artist Lee Krasner at a shared exhibition in 1942 and they got married three years later. She was instrumental in refining his style and introducing him to collectors. As art dealer John Bernard Myers stated: “there would never have been a Jackson Pollock without a Lee Pollock.”
M is for Machine
Inspired by Pollock, artist Dimitry Morozov made a machine that replicates the apparent randomness of his work. Its quality however, doesn’t even come close:
N is for Numbering
Wishing to completely erase any trace of representation from his paintings, Pollock numbered them instead. As his wife said: “Numbers are neutral. They make people look at a picture for what it is—pure painting.”
O is for “Out of the Web”
One of Pollock’s most unusual paintings — even for his standards — “Out Of The Web” sees him using a masonite canvas as a basis on which to create a collage of exquisite depth.
P is for Picasso
Picasso’s work can be seen as a major influence on Pollock, both in the way it found innovative, fractured ways of representation and its depiction of anxiety. Pollock said of the Spanish artist: “That [bleeping] Picasso … he’s done everything.”
Q is for Quotes
Pollock was also well known for his quotes, which provide inspiration for anybody wishing to be creative. Take for example his wide-ranging definition of an artist: “When I say artist I mean the man who is building things – creating molding the earth – whether it be the plains of the west – or the iron ore of Penn. It’s all a big game of construction – some with a brush – some with a shovel – some choose a pen.”
R is for Retrospective
There have been four large-scale retrospectives of Jackson Pollock’s work so far, three at the MoMa and one at the Tate Britain.
“Bye Bye Badman,” 1989, by John Squire.
S is for The Stone Roses
The American painter was a huge inspiration for the Manchester rock group, using similar designs to adorn their debut album.
T is for Time Magazine
In 1949, Time massively raised the stature of Pollock when they ran the Headline: “Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?”
U is for Uninhibited
Pollock’s work can be described as highly uninhibited, letting pure emotion and personality take over in the creation of his art, showing the form needn’t be a carefully studied, classical medium, but instead the purest expression of personal being. “When I am in my painting,” according to Pollock, “I‘m not aware of what I’m doing.”
V is for Volcanic
James Johnson Sweeney was a key champion of Pollock’s art, using a geological metaphor to describe it as “volcanic.” He went on to say: “It has fire…It is lavish, explosive, untidy.”
W is for Wyoming
Jackson Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912, but was taken away from his mother at a mere ten months old to San Diego. He would later grow up in California and Arizona, before making New York his final home.
“Yellow Islands,” 1952 by Jackson Pollock
Y is for “Yellow Islands”
Pollock made this painting by pouring black paint on the canvas, just before adding yellow and crimson with a brush. Pollock later hung the painting up whilst it was still wet so it would run down the canvas.
Z is for Zodiac
Pollock is an Aquarius. His horoscope analysis states this accounts for him being the “very type of the thinker who needs time and isolation to meditate at length and allow his serious, methodical and rigorous mind to show its worth”