Jackson Pollock was born in Wyoming in 1912 and studied art in New York. He was influenced by surrealists and Mexican muralists, and developed his famous casting technique on Long Island. Despite personal struggles, he became a celebrated painter before his death in 1956. His work is now exhibited worldwide.
Jackson Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912. He was the fifth and youngest child of LeRoy McCoy Pollock and Stella McClure Pollock. His father was a farmer and later a surveyor. In his later life, Pollock would claim that the scenic American landscapes he saw as a child were an influence on his paintings of him.
After attending Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, California, Pollock enrolled in the Art Students League of New York, where he studied with regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton. In Benton’s class, Pollock learned the basics of drawing and composition. He also studied mural painting and analyzed the works of the old masters.
Surrealist artists such as Miro and Picasso influenced the young Jackson Pollock. Another influence was the Mexican muralist, David Alfaro Siqueiros. In 1936, Siqueiros taught in an experimental laboratory in New York. It was there that Jackson Pollock first encountered the artistic techniques for which he is most famous: the pouring and tossing of liquid material to achieve unpremeditated results.
Pollock enrolled in the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, through which he was able to fund his art. This provided him with an income for nearly eight years and enabled him to devote his time to painting. His work became more complex in nature and he began to develop a personal style.
Although his work was maturing during this period, Jackson Pollock suffered from personal problems. Pollock suffered from recurring bouts of depression and struggled with alcoholism. His brothers Charles and Sandford, also artists, were living with Pollock at the time and encouraged him to seek help. Although psychoanalysis didn’t help much, it introduced Pollock to Jung’s theories, which confirmed the direction his art was taking.
It was around this time that Jackson Pollock met artist Lee Krasner, whom he later married. Krasner saw the potential and talent in Pollock’s work and it wasn’t long before New York art patrons recognized his extraordinary talent as well. Peggy Guggenheim became Pollock’s dealer and patron, showing her work in her gallery to New York art lovers.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner moved from New York to a rural village on Long Island. The influences he encountered with the closeness to nature influenced his work. The colors he used were brighter than those he painted with in New York, and it was here that he developed his famous casting technique. Pollock spread canvas in his stable and let the liquid flow of its own accord. In 1947 Jackson Pollock was hailed as the most powerful painter in contemporary America.
However, none of this praise was able to stem Pollock’s personal demons. He reviewed his art many times, but struggled unsuccessfully with his drinking problem. In 1955 he gave up painting altogether and distanced himself from Krasner. In 1956 Jackson Pollock killed himself and another person while driving drunk. His work is now exhibited in museums around the world and the price of an original Jackson Pollock would set you back over a million dollars.
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