The She Wolf, 1943
Image: moma
The most energetic paintings by Jackson Pollock, The She Wolf, gives out a look that is influential for others.
The She Wolf was painted before the drip technique was introduced.
It is believed that the wolf in the painting is suggested as the animal that breastfed the twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
Jackson’s first solo exhibition, “Art of This Century,” featured The She Wolf.
The use of colors, patterns, and shapes captivates the viewer’s attention.
It doesn’t illuminate a vibrant view; instead, it gives the art a darkly humorous effect.
This conveys a message of fearless thinking about Pollock’s mind.
Later, the Museum of Modern Art acquired the painting and became the first museum where Pollock’s work was exhibited.
Scientific Context
Another aspect connected with the painting is its scientific impact. At first sight, it may seem strange that artworks are studied at this level. However, art, especially abstract movements, can be successfully analyzed from this point of view and contribute to the human knowledge. For instance, one can understand how a certain effect is produced and use it practically in advertising, design, and so on. In this respect, computer studies and painting become a perfect combination, and the example of Number 5, 1948 proves it.
One of the studies conducted by Zheng, Nie, Meng, Feng, and Zhang (2014) suggests the four-layers model in which an image is composed of the background layer, irregular shape layer, line layer, and water drop layer. The fractal-based method is used to analyze how a painting is organized technically. According to the research results, drips constitute independent, randomly put layers. The sole-colored background should cover the whole field smoothly in order to create the fundament. Further, irregular shapes “assumed to be generated by moving the brush on the canvas” are added (Zheng et al., 2014, p. 592). They create a specific effect pertaining to people’s visual perception: a painting becomes expressive. Later on, the lines are supplemented. They are intended to shape the whole painting. Pollock was reportedly creating such lines by dragging a stick on the canvas or dropping paints directly on it (Zheng et al., 2014, p. 592). Finally, it is estimated that paint drops are the unique characteristic of the artist’s works. Randomly generated, they integrate all layers and make the painting a completed structure. Although the artist’s talent cannot be reproduced by a machine, the algorithm suggested by the researchers is nevertheless useful because it is significant to understand the effects of different techniques on a viewer.
One more remarkable discovery connected with Pollock’s paintings and science refers to Hausdorff-Besicovitch fractal dimension (de la Calleja, Cervantes, & de la Calleja, 2016). The researchers point out that factuality is a widespread phenomenon in nature and attempt to specify the key characteristics of Pollock’s works. “Created by dripping, pouring, splashing or peeling layers of paint of different colors on canvas placed on the floor,” his paintings may be analyzed from this perspective, and it is not a mere coincidence: the artist reportedly had control of the splattering or dripping over the paints (de la Calleja, Cervantes, & de la Calleja, 2016, p. 2).
Since the paintings are notable for their complex structure and numerous elements, one may guesstimate that there is a kind of order. Indeed, according to the research results, the degree of order in Pollock’s works increases as a function of the year when they were created (de la Calleja, Cervantes, & de la Calleja, 2016). These results indicate that the artist executed his paintings consciously. Apart from the admiration for the artist and his talent, one can make use of this information: fractal dimensions serve as one of the tools to authenticate paintings.
Number 5, 1948 ($140 million)
The painting resembles a multi-colored bird nest. Some of the colors used in the painting include white, brown, black, grey, red and yellow. He made this piece during his drip period. According to Asking Lot, the drip period is a painting technique in which paint is dripped or poured onto a canvas. When he made this painting, he used new techniques to express emotions with colors and lines. Scholars tend to think that this painting displays excellent mathematical precision. It is evident from the angles he placed the colors. For instance, the colors interweave and cover the entire surface area. Additionally, the colors explode in multiple directions at once. Today, it is privately owned in New York.
Number 5, 1948 – sold for $140 million, May 2006
Jackson Pollock’s Number 5 (as well as being a Stone Roses song lyric) set the record for the highest price ever paid for a painting when it was sold privately on 22nd May 2006. It held this title for 5 years, until April 2011.
Measuring 8 x 4 feet, No.5 piece was painted on fibreboard with liquid synthetic resin paints (but recorded as oil paint during the painting’s classification). It features densely-layered shades of yellow, brown, white and grey.
There is an unusual story accompanying No. 5’s origin, too. After being painted in 1948, it was said to have received some damage during handling. Jackson Pollock added repairs by painting over the damage, but after first being sold in early 1949 for a mere $1,500, part of the paint effectively fell off – at which point Pollock decided to repaint the whole thing! Fortunately its new owner was even more pleased with the final result.
Number 5 (1948)
Творчество Поллока
В период Второй мировой войны Нью-Йорк стал новой столицей современного искусства: в этот город прибывали художники из оккупированной Европы; здесь проходили многочисленные выставки, посвященные современному искусству. На Поллока огромное впечатление произвели выставки Пикассо — «Герника», представленная в 1940 г. и ретроспектива «Пикассо.
Сорок лет. 1900-1940″. Европейский сюрреализм и изучение теорий Юнга определили творчество Поллока в 1940-е гг. В это время к художнику пришел и первый успех. Он участвовал в выставке «Американская и французская живопись», где его работы соседствовали с произведениями Пикассо, Матисса, Брака и Дерена.
В 1943 г. состоялась первая персональная выставка мастера.
В 1950 г. в журнале «Art News» была опубликована серия фотографий Ханса Намута, запечатлевшая Поллока за работой и вызвавшая сенсацию в мире. Художник раскладывал на полу мастерской натянутое на подрамник полотно и судорожными движениями покрывал его красками, то используя кисти, то просто выдавливая краску из тюбиков прямо на холст.
В 1950 г. Поллок испытал потрясающий успех на венецианской Биеннале. В это время мастер написал такие произведения, как «Осенний ритм», «Лиловый туман», «Галактику» и «Белый свет».
Персональные выставки у Пегги Гуггенхейм сделали Поллока знаменитым. Посетив одну из них в 1945 году, Клемент Гринберг описал Поллока как «сильнейшего художника поколения и, возможно, величайшего, который появился после Миро». Критик Клемент Гринберг придумал, как объяснить эти работы. Галеристка знала, как их продать. А музейщики поняли, как ввести их в историю искусства XX века. Вот три института, которые создали авторитет американского искусства: галерея, пресса, музей.
В последние несколько лет своей жизни Поллок — и знаменитость, и алкоголик. Он начал опускаться по спирали, которая привела его к разрушению семьи, надежды на карьеру. 11 августа 1956 г. Поллок погиб в автомобильной катастрофе.
Abstract
In the context of the mid-20th-century culture, Number 5, 1948 is one of the most wonderful phenomena. It is often considered to be the culmination of Jackson Pollock’s oeuvre. The present paper examines two aspects that made the painting a valuable abstract expressionist pattern and inspired the next generations: social impact and scientific importance. In this regard, mass media and academic sources were used in order to identify the key characteristics of the epoch and the scientific approach of present-day researchers. It is argued that the painting is closely related to the historical context and the public mood in the USA after World War II. It is proven that the rapidly changing world became the main reason for the shift from the traditional art forms to the abstract ones. The four-layers model and fractal dimension are described in reference to the scientific point of view.
The Deep
- Date created: 1953
- Dimensions: 150.7 × 220.4 centimeters (59.3 × 86.8 inches)
- Location: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
The Deep is considered to be one of the most mysterious Jackson Pollock paintings. It was produced shortly after he reached the peak of his career and a moment that he suddenly abandoned his drip-feeding technique for unexplained reasons.
His paintings after 1951 were a lot darker in nature and are referred to as “Dark Pourings.” This wasn’t a success because none of these paintings sold. This particular work of art was produced at a time when he attempted to integrate figures into his work, but what the dark paint in this work means remains unclear.
The Deep / Wiki Commons
Number 17A, 1948 – sold for $200 million, September 2015
Not to be confused with other Pollock’s other paintings numbered ‘17’, Number 17A, 1948 was sold privately for $200 million (a record-breaking price at the time) in September 2015 by entertainment mogul David Gefen to billionaire American hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin.
A relatively colourful and bright painting of Pollock’s, Number 17A, 1948, was painted in oil on fibreboard and measures 44 x 34 inches. It features large section of red, yellow and blue, interwoven among layers of black and white – and unusually for his drip paintings, contains three distinguished white stripes running diagonally across the centre of the painting.
The history of this painting is likely to have been a factor behind its astronomical sale price; Number 17A is the painting that earned Jackson Pollock his breakthrough to fame and celebrity, after it was featured with a four-page spread in August 1949’s edition of Life magazine.
Jackson Pollock at work
Джексон Поллок Биография
Пол Джексон Поллок родился в Коди, США, 28 января 1912 года.
Сын Стеллы Мэй и Лероя Поллока, он был младшим из шести детей пары. Его отец работал в сельском хозяйстве, а позже работал геодезистом в правительстве. Его мать происходила из семьи ткачей и была швеей.
Когда Джексону было всего 10 месяцев, семья переехала туда, и оттуда Поллок проживает в нескольких американских городах, но больше не вернулся в Коди.
Поллок был сложным молодым человеком и был исключен из школы в 1928 году. Позже он поступает в Среднюю школу ручного труда в Лос-Анджелесе, Калифорния, учреждение, в которое ему также запретили.
Он начал правильно изучать искусство в 1930 году, когда он отправился в Нью-Йорк, следуя по стопам брата Чарльза Поллока.
В то время братья учились в Лиге студентов -художников у американского художника Томаса Харта Бентона, известного художника-монументалиста, который привнес в свои работы регионалистскую тематику.
Number 19, 1948 – sold for $58 million, May 2013
Jackson Pollock’s Number 19, 1948 went under the hammer and sold for $58.4 million at Christie’s in New York on 15th May 2013 (around $5 million of which was the buyer’s premium). Estimated to sell for between $25-35 million, this painting became the subject of an intense bidding war, despite being one of Pollock’s smaller drip-painted pieces.
Measuring just 78.4 x 57.4cm, Number 19, 1948 was painted in oil and enamel on paper mounted on canvas and possesses a monochrome appearance on first impression. On closer inspection, however, layers of turquoise and red can be seen delicately poised between the shades of black and grey within the painting.
Number 19 (1948)
Formal Analysis: A Brief Compositional Overview
The formal analysis will start with a visual description of No. 5 by Jackson Pollock, followed by a description of some of the artistic details according to the art elements like color, texture, line, shape, form, and space, and how these are composed around the large panel.
Subject Matter: Visual Description
No. 5 by Jackson Pollock is a large artwork, measuring 2.4 by 1.2 meters. It depicts the artist’s self-created cosmos of dripped swirls and lines of paint. Another commonly referred to comparison has been to it appearing like a “bird’s nest”. The entirety of the No.5 painting is filled with yellow, red, brown, gray, white, and black paint dripped and dribbled in various directions and layers leading our (the viewers) gaze from point to point and loop to loop.
Color
If you look at the colors again, Jackson Pollock utilized neutrals like black, white, brown, and gray with several other hues like yellow and red. The type of paint he utilized was reportedly synthetic resin paint.
Line
There is an assortment of lines in No. 5 by Jackson Pollock, some examples include long, short, curled, curved, semi-straight, wavy, and more. Most of the lines created in the composition are formed from the artist’s own physical movements, for example, moving his hand in one direction while pouring the paint would have informed the type of line created.
Texture
The texture of No.5 by Jackson Pollock directly relates to the tactility of the paint on the panel. The paint appears thick and thin throughout the composition.
Space
If you look at the space in No. 5 by Jackson Pollock, it is dynamic and as fluid as his painting. The physical, three-dimensional, space Pollock occupied around the panel directly informed how the compositional space was created.
Shape and Form
The No. 5 composition appears fluid and dynamic, there are no figurative aspects to it and it exists as an abstract, non-figurative, composition. The physical structure of the panel provides a rectangular shape, which in some way holds the diverse arrangement of lines and paint.