Jackson PollockAmerican painter Jackson Pollock (1912 – 1955) was one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism and the New York School. He is best known for his large action drip paintings, which he produced between 1947 and 1952, created by pouring and manipulating liquid paint atop canvases set on the floor. Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming and grew up More is considered one of the leading contributors to the art movement of Abstract ExpressionismThe term Abstract Expressionism is applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning, flourishing between 1943 and the mid-1950s. Since Abstract Expressionism marked the beginning of New York City as the centre of the Western art world, the movement is also known as the New York School. More. He was inspired by the idea of surrealismSurrealism was a 20th-century philosophical, literary, and artistic movement seeking to channel the unconscious to access the imaginary. Proponents of Surrealism rejected the notion of understanding life in rational and conventional terms in favour of asserting the value of the unconscious mind, dreams, the strangely beautiful, and the uncanny. André Breton, the leader of a group of poets and artists More that art should emerge from the unconscious mind and worked in an improvisatory manner making gestural marks onto the canvas. Pollock created his “drip paintings” by applying gestural brushstrokes and by mark-making, emphasizing the impression of spontaneity.
Where is the picture “One: Number 31” today?
The original picture of “One: Number 31” is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City today.
What’s in it?
“One: Number 31” is one of Jackson Pollock’s largest paintings: He used a 2.47 by 5.33 metres canvas, which he had lying on the ground while working on it, refraining completely from using an easel. A central element to his style was the use of paint with a fluid viscosity instead of traditional oil paints or watercolours. He combined several application techniques with every layer, using different hues of black, grey, brown, metallic, and white, creating a field of densely interlaced threads of paint offset by pools and splashes of colour. He poured, dribbled, and flicked enamel paint onto the surface in continuous movement, sometimes straight from the can, building up a nest-like complexity of interwoven globs and lines.
What’s the context?
Jackson PollockAmerican painter Jackson Pollock (1912 – 1955) was one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism and the New York School. He is best known for his large action drip paintings, which he produced between 1947 and 1952, created by pouring and manipulating liquid paint atop canvases set on the floor. Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming and grew up More was at the height of his career when he made “One: Number 31”. It is one of three wall-size paintings he produced in immediate succession in the summer and fall of 1950 at his barn studio in East Hampton, the other two being “Blue Poles” and “Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)”.
Gallery owner Paul Facchetti decided to realize Pollocks first exhibition of his drip paintings in 1952 in his studios in Paris and other parts of Europe, showcasing work of the years 1947 till 1950. However, after first successes, Pollock decided to abruptly abandon his drip-style in favour of a painting approach characterized by a much darker palette.
Chatter and Prattle
In 2013, conservators at the Museum of Modern Art in New York took down “One: Number 31” from its hanging spot for preparatory analysis and restoration, cleaning the dust off the crevices of paint that had been accumulating over the years. During the X-ray analysis they found parts of the painting that had not been done with the typical house paint and in not in the typical Pollock application method. Further analysis showed that these changes had been implemented between 1962 and 1968, years after Pollock’s death in 1956. Therefore, the conservators restored the painting fully, removing the forged additions that were not part of the Pollock original.
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Gavin Delahunty (2015): Blind Spots: Jackson Pollock
Steven Naifeh (1998): Jackson Pollock: An American Saga
Leonhard Emmerling (2016): Pollock (Basic Art Series 2.0)
Pepe Karmel (2002):Jackson Pollock: Key Interviews, Articles, And Reviews
Michael Schreyach (2017): Pollock’s Modernism
B. H. Friedman (1995): Jackson Pollock: Energy Made Visible
