Jackson Pollock
American·1912–1956
Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) revolutionized American art by abandoning brushes and easels to pour and drip house paint directly onto canvases laid on the floor. Born in Cody, Wyoming, he studied with Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League in New York, absorbing the Regionalist's emphasis on rhythm and movement before rejecting representational subjects entirely. In 1947, Pollock developed his signature "drip technique," flinging paint from sticks and trowels in looping gestures that created dense, all-over compositions. His method, later called "action painting," used his whole body and let him work from all four sides of the canvas.
Between 1947 and 1950, Pollock created his most celebrated works: Full Fathom Five, Lavender Mist, Autumn Rhythm, and Number 1A, paintings that made New York the center of the avant-garde and established Abstract Expressionism as America's first internationally influential art movement. His wife, artist Lee Krasner, managed his career and later his legacy. The Museum of Modern Art held a memorial retrospective four months after his death in a drunk-driving accident at age 44. His painting Number 5, 1948 sold for approximately $140 million in 2006. Today, major works hang at MoMA, the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Tate Modern. The explosive energy and abstract visual rhythms of his drip paintings continue to influence contemporary artists worldwide.
Notable Works by Jackson Pollock
12 paintings catalogued with museum locations
Museums with Jackson Pollock's Work
5 museums display Pollock's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.
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About Jackson Pollock
Pollock was the leading figure of Abstract Expressionism, America's first internationally influential art movement that emerged in New York after World War II. Critics called his particular approach 'action painting' because the physical act of applying paint became as important as the finished work. He helped shift the art world's center from Paris to New York.
Pollock laid large canvases on his studio floor and flung, poured, and dripped commercial house paint from sticks, trowels, and hardened brushes. Moving around and sometimes stepping onto the canvas, he used his whole body to create rhythmic, all-over compositions with no focal point, calling his process 'energy and motion made visible.'
Major works hang at the MoMA in New York, which holds Number 1A and other key pieces, the Guggenheim, the Tate Modern in London, and the Met. The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs, Long Island, preserves his studio with paint-splattered floors intact.
His celebrated works include Lavender Mist (National Gallery of Art), Autumn Rhythm (Met), Number 1A (MoMA), and Full Fathom Five, all created during his breakthrough period from 1947 to 1950. These large-scale drip paintings established his international reputation and changed the course of modern abstract art.
Pollock died on August 11, 1956, at age 44 in a single-car accident while driving drunk near his home in Springs, Long Island. He had struggled with alcoholism throughout his life. The crash also killed one passenger, Edith Metzger, and injured his mistress Ruth Kligman. His widow Lee Krasner managed his estate.
In 2006, his painting Number 5, 1948 reportedly sold privately for approximately $140 million, making it one of the most expensive paintings ever sold at that time. His works regularly command tens of millions at auction. The high prices reflect his foundational importance to postwar American art history.
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