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"AS I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is merely after sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have already been about." - Jackson Pollock In August of 1949, Life magazine famously began a lengthy article on Jackson Pollock with the headline "Is he the best living painter in america?" By that time, Pollock had been well-established in the American fine art world, the beneficiary of laudatory critical assessments, commercial success, and the support of the influential Peggy Guggenheim (who had helped launch his career with a major show six years before). However, to the relatively uninitiated readership of the middlebrow publication like Life, this article sent shockwaves, as many considered how Jackson Pollock, whose paintings appeared abstract and sloppy to the point of resonating like the task of a kid, could possibly command word any major standing up within the horizon of avant-garde and modernist fine art. These same people without doubt considered how his artwork could realistically lay case to being masterpieces without apparent subject matter. On a mental level, it's even possible that visitors wondered what sort of man who viewed as macho and indeed, boorish, as Jackson Pollock could really be the best painter America had to offer. More than 50 years later, these questions may appear a bit quaint, nevertheless they continue to reverberate for anybody accustomed to the typical that fine art be anchored in representation rather than abstraction. Hans Namuth, who was simply photographing Pollock focusing on One: No. 31, 1950, had written of his wonder when Pollock recommenced work on a painting Namuth thought was done: "[D]ripping wet canvas covered the entire floor.... There is complete silence.... Pollock looked at the painting. Then, unexpectedly, he found can and paint brush and began to move around the canvas. It had been as though he suddenly realized the painting was not finished. His activities, slow initially, slowly but surely became faster plus more dance like as he flung dark, white, and rust colored color onto the canvas. He completely forgot that Lee and I were there; he did not seem to hear the click of the camera shutter...My photography session lasted so long as he maintained painting, perhaps around 30 minutes. In all that time, Pollock did not stop. How could one keep up this degree of activity? Finally, he said 'This is it.'" History's Greatest Artists: THE LIFE SPAN and Legacy of Jackson Pollock looks at the personal track record that led Pollock to become an designer and the social climate where he increased to fame. Pollock's formal technique and imaginative legacy are also examined, including his working methods and education. Become familiar with about Pollock like never before, in no time at all.
