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Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), nicknamed “Jack the Dripper”, was an American abstract expressionist artist who is largely credited with bringing the art scene to America. Previously, all major art centers had been European—Paris, Florence, Rome, and so on. Now the art movement centered around America, mainly in New York, and modern art began to really take off.

Pollock is famous for his drip technique of pouring paint from a can all over the canvas. Abstract expressionism is largely a hit or miss with most people, but what’s fascinating about Pollock is his lack of regard for the canvas itself, that most holy of objects. He takes the medium most highly regarded, paint, and walks over the canvas, sloshing paint about at random. It’s a stab at academism and its rigid traditions of oil painting and classical techniques. Additionally, Pollock was influenced by Mexican Surrealism and Regionalism and also by the sand painting of various Native American tribes in North America.

“On the floor I am more at ease, I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around in it, work from the four sides and be literally ‘in’ the painting.” 
—Jackson Pollock, 1947

Jackson Pollock

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