Jackson Pollock
Biography And Paintings Of Jackson Pollock, The Abstract Expressionist American Artist Who Invented 'Action-Painting'

Jackson Pollock Action-Painting

Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)

An influential member of the abstract expressionism movement in America, Paul Jackson Pollock was the founder of the highly innovative painting technique, known as Action Painting. This artistic method involved dripping and smearing the paint onto the canvas in dramatic sweeping gestures. Pollock would pour and fling the paint, using sticks and knives, onto an unstretched canvas which had been tacked to a hard wall or floor. This enabled him to walk around the painting and almost become the gesture of the painting. This avant-garde approach to art earned him the nickname "Jack The Dripper."

By rejecting the use of an easel and other more traditional painting techniques, he carved out a unique niche for himself in post-war abstract impressionism. Fellow artist Lee Krasner (who Pollock met in 1936 and married in 1945) was a central influence in Pollock’s artistic life. Another key person was with Peggy Guggenheim, a wealthy art collector who was to become one of Pollock's early supporters and promoters of his work.

Pollock claimed he was reproducting "action" rather than a specific image. He stated: "The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through."

Instead of using the traditional easel, typically he placed his canvases on the floor and dripped his paint from a can, using sticks, trowels or knives, and sometimes used a heavy impasto by combining broken glass or other material. His theory of Action painting is not unlike certain Dali-esque surrealist theories of 'automatic painting' that supposedly allow artists to express their unconscious moods of creativity.

In fact, Jackson Pollock was not the true inventor of action painting. His wife, Lee Krasner was the first artist to begin dripping paint and exerted a strong influence on Pollock's artistic development.

Jackson Pollock's most famous art-works - many given minimalist titles - include No 1 (Lavendar Mist), No 4, No 5 and Blue Poles. He received widespread publicity during his lifetime as well as serious recognition for his hallmark paint-dripping technique. By 1956, his paintings and painting methods were having an enormous influence on his contemporaries both in America and Europe.

Pollock was one of the few American painters to be recognized during his lifetime and afterward as the equal of twentieth century European masters of modern art. His paintings now sell for record prices in excess of $100 million. Sadly, his alcoholism-induced depression and despondency (he painted nothing in his final months) led to an early death at the age of 44.

At the peak of his fame, Pollock was considered by many to be the greatest living painter, although some art critics now consider that his work is not holding up as predicted. Despite this, Sotheby's Australia have stated that the price of Pollock's paintings will rise in value, as very few of his paintings remain. According to a report in The New York Times, on November 2, 2006, the painting was sold privately by David Geffen for a record price of $140 million. If true, this would make Number 5 the most expensive painting in the history of art.

• For more biographies of great painters, see Old Masters and Famous Artists.
• For information about famous sculptors and painters in Ireland, see: Irish Visual Art

Irish Art News Stories - Guide to Irish Art Exhibitions and Shows
© visual-arts-cork.com 2008 All rights reserved.