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Born: 1912
City and Country of Origin: Cody, Wyoming
Painting School: Abstract Expressionist
Art Training: Art Students' League, New York;
Exhibitions: Peggy Guggenheim Gallery
Awards:
Major Works: "Number 8, 1949," "Composition," "Yellow Grey Black"
Jackson Pollock Biography: The Rembrandt of the Abstract Expressionist movement. He grew up in Arizona nd California. He started his art education in 1929 under Thomas Hart Benton adopting his teacher's Regionalist style. He was also influenced by the Mexican muralists Orozco, Rivera and Siqueros. From 1938 to 1942 he worked for the FAP. By the 1940s his work was totally abstract. The drip method that he is so famous for came into being around 1947. Instead of using an easel he laid his canvas on the floor and applied paint by dripping the paint from cans and manipulating it on the canvas with sticks and knives. His work is epitomized by a total lack of spatial composition instead relying on all over design. The turbulence and exuberance which one experiences viewing his work was also present in his life. Throughout his career he battled with alcoholic depression which led to violent emotional outbreaks. He died in a 1 car auto accident.
Died: August 27, 1956