This Is Pollock

Description

In 1956 Time magazine referred to Pollock as 'Jack the Dripper'. His iconic paintings stretch out with the generosity and scale of the landscape of America's West where the artist grew up. Pollock said that he painted 'out of his consciousness': the cathartic dribbled paint reflected his troubled mind. This book traces Pollock's career and discusses how his loose, individual style was used as a political weapon in the Cold War, representing America as the free, democratic nation. Illustrations simplify the theory and reveal the hidden meaning behind the mesh of painted lines. Series writer Catherine Ingram brings her extensive knowledge to the book, while specially commissioned illustrations by New York-based illustrator Peter Arkle vividly portray the text.

Reviews

"Eloquent, informative, and amusing." - "School Library Journal"

Author description

Catherine Ingram obtained a First Class Honours degree at Glasgow University. After an MA in 19th-Century Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Catherine became a graduate scholar at Trinity College, Oxford. After finishing her D.Phil, she was made a Prize Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford. A native of Scotland, Peter Arkle lives and works in New York. He creates illustrations for books, magazines and ads for a wide range of clients, including Amnesty International, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian and Esquire.

Table of contents

An Uncertain Power: Post-War America American Art All mothers are giants - Jackson Pollock The Absent Father, LeRoy Manual Arts High School 1928 - 30 Krishnamurti The American Man Hut An American Pantheism Life with the Bentons Art Students League 1930 - 32 A More Dynamic Side to Thomas Benton All in a Day's Work, 1935 - 38 Pretty negative stuff so far - Jackson Pollock Birth, 1938 - 41 We're all of us influenced by Freud, I guess. I've been a Jungian for a long time. - Jackson Pollock Bird A Father Figure John Graham Lee Krasner The record of all human intercourse is perpetuated through the medium of symbols. - John Graham Peggy Horror Vacui: Mural, 1943 Radical Art The Hunters of the Plains In the room the women come and go. Talking of Michelangelo - T. S. Eliot A Comforting Ordinariness The Pantheist Emerges Reshuffling the Deck Peggy's Departure On the Floor Pollock Speaks The Dripper Emerges Astral Beauty Night Vision Pollock by Panel Number 1A, 1948 The Paradox of Summertime (Number 9A) 'Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living artist in the United States?' - Life, 8 October 1949 Seasons Change: Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) The Painting Overexposed Pollock's Viewpoint Coffee will be served in the living room - Lee Krasner Success and Glamour New York is brutal - Jackson Pollock Cedar Tavern A Change of Gallery The Story of Blue Poles, 1952 That Place Called Home - Springs Portrait and a Dream Final Fling Waiting for Godot 'Rage, rage against the dying of the light'