Pollock

Rebellious hero of abstract expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) lit up the art scene in the United States throughout his life like a pyrotechnician. Channeling ideas from sources as disparate as Picasso and Mexican surrealism, he rejected existing conventions in the name of conceiving a personal way of looking, interpreting, and expressing himself.

Pollock's most famous works are his dripping paintings, in which he dripped and poured enamel paint onto canvas using a variety of instruments, from sticks to syringes to hardened brushes and even shards of glass. The resulting splashes brim with energy, replacing the refinement of easel and brush with something altogether more immediate, vivid, and physical. To prevent the viewer from searching for figurative elements on his canvases, Pollock chose not to title them and simply neutrally identified them with a number.

Known for being a sullen and volatile man who battled alcoholism, married to fellow abstract expressionist artist Lee Krasner , Pollock, who died in a car accident when he was just 44 years old, is a fascinating creative figurehead and art pioneer. This essential introduction to the artist explores both his work and his fame to understand the value of some of what are already essential masterpieces in modern history and their status as cultural icons.