Jackson Pollock's style and technique has always appealed to me. In the early 1980's, my father took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I first witnessed an image created by this artist. I believe the piece was "Number 28" (but to be honest, I was very young, so it may have been another painting).
From what my father tells me, he said he remembered that I liked Pollock's art because it made me feel at home, as the painting resembled my messy room.
Whatever the case, I have always enjoyed this style of Modern Art.
This lesson's film was equally enjoyable (even though the film itself was a bit dated). I enjoyed the facts told about his life, as well as the sound bytes from an original radio interview. I also enjoyed the information provided by those who knew him well, both personally and professionally. And I couldn't help but notice that just about everyone in the film, including Pollock himself, smoked like a chimney!
It was refreshing to hear that Pollock had been influenced by such a wide variety of artists styles and locations. From Native American Sand Art, to the paintings of Cezanne, from the views of the Grand Canyon while his father conducted surveys of its rim, to the Mexican Muralists, Pollock had a wide range of inspiration. Most importantly, Jackson Pollock was inspired by his subconscious.
It was also enlightening to discover that Pollock had so many women in his life. It was mentioned that he was rather dependent on these women, which included his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Pollock. While Pollock had lived with his brother and his wife, Elizabeth, she developed an interesting opinion of him. She apparently found him selfish, arrogant and lazy - not a confession I was expecting to hear!
A relationship with Peggy Guggenheim likely benefited Pollock, as she surely had connections for him to exhibit his artwork. And a marriage to fellow artist, Lee Krasner, may have worked (for a time at least) because only another artist could understand what it truly meant for him to create.
And finally, there was the mistress, Ruth Kligman. His mistress was actually with him when he died in a terrible alcohol infused car accident. Ruth offered a unique insight when she told the filmmakers, "The art market was created out of Jackson Pollock's tragedy."
I had honestly never even considered this information before the film. After Pollock's death, his widow had managed to hold on to several paintings purely to make them more desirable, and thus, more expensive. Of course, Pollock's sudden, violent death helped push the prices up as well. Collectors and exhibitors wanted a piece of the artist's work, since he was no longer around to create anything further. Nowadays, it's almost always the case that an artist's paintings are worth more after their death. It's an interesting bit of trivia to know where this 'practice' originated.
So, even though Pollock was a drunk (then again, so were the majority of the Abstract Expressionists), and a bit of a womanizer (and yes, I feel he has to be considered a womanizer if he was able to keep a wife and a mistress), the works created by this artist were full of energy, created with groundbreaking techniques, and most of all, expressive. As Pollock himself said, "I want to express my feelings, rather than illustrate them". I look forward to learning more about the artist on my own.
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