11 Things You Didn’t Know About Jackson Pollock

Knowledge can be gained at any age. After having a detailed study on topics there are things unknown to us. So, we at Abirpothi present before you the lesser-known facts about artists around the world.

Jackson Pollock

When I am in a painting, I\’m not aware of what I\’m doing. It is only after a sort of \’get acquainted\’ period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc, because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.

Jackson Pollock

An image of Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock was an American painter best known for the technique of \”drip painting.\” However, he gave up this approach and isolated himself socially and creatively during the height of his artistic career. Pollock\’s work has come under intense criticism, with some considering it the finest paintings of its time and others labelling it a crude joke. Pollock was unquestionably one of the most important painters of his time despite the conflicting viewpoints surrounding him, and some of his works have been among the most expensive paintings ever sold. His drip paintings closely reflect the complex repeating patterns observed in nature, according to the study of his work.

Number 17A (1948) – Most expensive painting of Jackson Pollock

Other artists most certainly felt the impact of Pollock\’s early work. His art included aspects of Impressionism, Surrealism, and Cubism while transcending each. Even great artists like de Kooning, who stuck with figurative imagery and stayed more closely associated with Cubism, seemed to fall short in comparison to that accomplishment. And just as Pollock himself had battled Picasso, the greatest of the next generations of artists would all have to take on his achievement.

11 lesser-known facts about Jackson Pollock

1. Although Pollock’s parents were both Presbyterians, Pollock and his four older brothers received no religious education as children. Blue poles: Number 30 by Jackson Pollock
2. Jackson Pollock is the most famous practitioner of drip painting to the extent that he was dubbed “Jack the Dripper” by TIME magazine.
3. He was the subject of the Oscar-winning film \”Pollock\” directed by Ed Harris.
4. Jackson Pollock began drinking heavily as early as the age of 15 and he suffered from alcohol abuse throughout much of his life. Although Pollock was known to have a calm personality, the influence of alcohol brought out his alter ego turning him into an angry and violent person.
5. Some people would buy Pollock drinks at the bar just to see what kind of bizarre antics he would get up to when drunk.
6. In 1989, Pollock’s biography Jackson Pollock: An American Saga was published. Written by American authors Gregory White Smith and Steven Naifeh, the book was regarded as “well-researched” and it won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Jackson Pollock during the process of action painting.
7. He was expelled twice from high school before eventually being sent to live with his brother.
8. Pollock died in a tragic car accident in 1956 and few people know that there was a survivor of the accident: his lover Ruth Kligman.
9. Lee Krasner, his wife, explained that Pollock began to title his work with numbers, stating, “The numbers are neutral, which will force people to see the painting for what it is, pure painting.” One – Number 31, 1950 by Jackson Pollock
10. Herman Melville was one of his favorite writers. In fact, his dog’s name was “Captain Ahab”. It is in honor of one of the most prominent characters in a Melville novel.
11. He painted his works using knives, forks, ties, handkerchiefs, and brushes, but instead of resting them on the canvas, he threw the paint. Number One, 1950 (Lavender Mist) by Jackson Pollock