Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock

No. 5 Moby Dick

Jenna Kimble

Introduction to Art 1660-21

November 4, 2010

Jackson Pollock was born in January on the 28th of 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. He was the youngest of five boys. Pollock was expelled from high school and enrolled and got expelled again from Los Angeles' Manual Arts High school, then final went to train at the Art Students League of New York. After training at the Art Students League of New York he worked for the WPA Federal Art Project from 1935 till 1943.

Pollock was an American abstract expressionist from the early 1990's. He was influenced by Native American and Mexican cultures. He also brought out Regionalists Psychology and the brash techniques of Benton. Pollock began as a spontaneously with the surrealist style. He used this style to get out subconscious thoughts and feelings.

After countless misunderstood paintings, Pollock became an alcoholic and put himself into isolation until 1947. When Jackson came out Lee Krasner got him back on his feet. They ended up marrying and Lee got him to stop drinking long enough to get himself noticed and producing good works of art. He developed his own technique of painting while he was sober where he would drip, throw, splatter, or drop paint onto a canvas that he would lay on the floor. Jackson said, "On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting". This new style of painting made Pollock famous until 1954 when his work and style started to get boring.

Lee was part of the reason Pollock got so famous. Lee pushed him the hardest and made him give up drinking to get the work done. Because she did this he made some of his best work and he even got his first one man show. Lee also made most of his calls and appointments with people to come see his work. She even talked for him in some interviews he did so that people would better understand him.

Pollock work is still viewed today in modern art museums. It was last viewed in 1999 at MoMA in London. Also in 2000 Ed Harris made a movie about Jackson called Pollock that was based on the later years of Pollock life leading up to his death in 1956 in a car crash.

In 1948 Jackson made the painting No. 5 by using oil paints and a fibre board. The painting was 8' x 4' inches, so it was about the size of a cake. This painting was labeled as an abstract expressionism painting. He used color and value as visual elements to draw you into the painting. The colors he picked bring each other out make the piece more interesting to look at because how them complement each other. The value is