Jackson Pollock
1912-1956 · American (Cody, Wyoming/New York) · Abstract Expressionism
Known for: Pioneer of drip painting who flung paint onto canvases laid on the floor and made New York the center of the art world
Pollock laid canvases on the floor and dripped, poured, and flung paint in a physical, ritualistic process that redefined painting. His all-over compositions like Number 1A, 1948 proved that the act of painting itself could be the subject.
He was a troubled alcoholic from the American West who became the reluctant poster boy for the New York art world. His wife Lee Krasner was also a significant painter who sacrificed her career for his. He died in a drunk-driving crash at 44.
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