Death of Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock, a prominent American painter known for his role in the abstract expressionist movement, died in a car crash on August 11, 1956, near East Hampton, New York. Born on January 28, 1912, in Cody, Wyoming, Pollock is celebrated for his innovative technique of action painting, where he dripped and flung paint onto canvas, creating dynamic, immersive works. His artistic journey began in Los Angeles and continued in New York City, where he studied under Thomas Hart Benton and eventually gained recognition for his unique style. Pollock's work often explored themes from his unconscious mind, influenced by his experiences with psychotherapy, which guided his artistic expression.
Pollock’s most notable contributions to art include pieces like "Autumn Rhythm" and "Lavender Mist," showcasing his signature drip method that emphasized the painting process itself. Despite struggling with alcoholism and facing personal challenges, Pollock maintained a prolific output until his untimely death. While he achieved some recognition during his lifetime, it was posthumously that his works garnered immense value, reflecting his lasting impact on modern art. His legacy continues to inspire and provoke discussion about the nature of creativity and the role of the artist.
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Death of Jackson Pollock
Death of Jackson Pollock
Artist Paul Jackson Pollock died in a car crash near East Hampton, New York, on August 11, 1956. An American painter, he was one of the leaders in modern art and invented action painting. A form of abstract expressionism. He was nicknamed Jack the Dripper for the pictures he created by dripping and flinging paint directly onto canvas.
Pollock, who typically went by his middle name Jackson rather than his first name Paul, was born on January 28, 1912, in Cody, Wyoming. His art training began at the Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, but in 1930 he followed one of his older brothers to New York City, where they studied art under Thomas Hart Benton. Benton opposed European modernism, and for a time Pollock imitated his teacher's realistic style. During the 1930s Pollock also began an eight-year tenure with the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project, which gave him a steady income while he continued to develop his skills. In 1937 he began to undergo psychiatric treatment for alcoholism, and the following year he suffered a nervous breakdown. While in psychotherapy his doctors, who were students of Carl Jung, strongly influenced his work by encouraging him to search his paintings to find clues about his unconscious mind. This technique was similar to one called automatism that surrealist artists sometimes used to tap their unconscious for artistic expression.
During the early 1940s, Pollock obtained a contract with Peggy Guggenheim of the Art of the Century Gallery in New York City and held an annual series of one-man shows. In late 1943 or early 1944, Pollock painted Mural, his first wall-sized work, which combined the techniques he had learned under Benton with a new surrealistic style. Pollock's search for ways to express images from his unconscious in his paintings are also found in such works as The Moon Woman (1942) and Eyes in the Heat (1946). In 1945 he married fellow artist Lee Krasner, and they moved to East Hampton on Long Island, New York.
Pollock first used the technique of pouring or dripping paint onto a canvas in 1947. Paintings employing this method took weeks to finish and came to be known as action painting or abstract expressionism. In talking about this kind of art Pollock would say, “On the floor I feel more at ease, I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around, work from the four sides and be literally ‘in’ the painting.” His drip paintings had no visual center of attention, a radical departure from traditional styles. Sometimes they would also have objects embedded in them, such as the nails, buttons, and coins that appear in Full Fathom Five (1947). Action painting made the artistic process as significant as the finished work and is related to surrealism in that both methods attempt to draw from the unconscious creative forces in the artist. Autumn Rhythm (1950), one of Pollock's best-known works, is another example of this technique.
In the 1950s Pollock continued to vary his techniques, painting almost exclusively in black, white, and brown in 1951 and part of 1952. He also returned to a style that was not purely abstract and included figures in some of his paintings, as in Number 7, 1951 (1951). Returning to color in 1952, Pollock produced some of his last major works in 1953, including Portrait and a Dream and Easter and the Totem. The pressure of competition from a growing number of expressionist artists prompted Pollack's return to drinking, causing the deterioration of his physical and emotional health, along with his marriage. He died in a single-car crash near his home in East Hampton on August 11, 1956.
Pollock was one of the few American painters recognized and admired during his lifetime, although his paintings did not bring him great fortune before he died. After his death, however, they were sold for some of the highest prices paid for works by an American artist. Lavender Mist (1950), for example, which he sold for $1,500, was purchased by the National Gallery of Art in 1976 for more than $2 million.