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Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912, an the youngest of five sons. His parents, Stella May McClure and LeRoy Pollock, grew up in Tingley, Iowa. His father had been born McCoy but took the surname of his neighbors, who adopted him after his own parents had died within a year of each other. Stella and LeRoy Pollock were his adoptive parents.
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In 1930, following his brother Charles Pollock, he moved to New York City where they both studied under Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League of New York. Benton's rural American subject matter shaped Pollock's work only fleetingly, but his rhythmic use of paint and his fierce independence were more lasting influences.
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By the mid 1940s he was painting in a completely abstract manner. Here he partially used a liquid paint.
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The `drip and splash' style for which he is best known emerged with some abruptness in 1946.
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Number 8, 1949 (detail)
1949 (280 Kb); Oil, enamel, and aluminum paint on canvas; Neuberger Museum, State University of New York -
he began painting with his canvases laid out on the studio floor, and he developed what was later called his "drip" technique, turning to synthetic resin-based paints called alkyd enamels, which, at that time, was a novel medium. Pollock described this use of household paints, instead of artist’s paints, as "a natural growth out of a need."[15] He used hardened brushes, sticks, and even basting syringes as paint applicators. Pollock's technique of pouring and dripping paint is thought to be one
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He rocketed to popular status following an August 8, 1949 four-page spread in Life magazine that asked, "Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" At the peak of his fame, Pollock abruptly abandoned the drip style. Easter and the Totem
1953 (150 Kb); Oil on canvas, 84 1/4 x 58 in; The Museum of Modern Art, New York -
Jackson, an alcoholic dies in a drunk driving accident.
