Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock: Number 31, 1950

This is one of the three wall-size paintings that Pollock realized in swift succession in the summer and autumn of 1950. In 1947, Pollock began laying canvas on the floor and pouring, dribbling, and flicking enamel paint onto the surface, sometimes straight from the can, or with sticks and brushes. The density of interlacing liquid threads of paint is balanced and offset by puddles of muted colors and by allover spattering. The pictorial results of this tension is a landmark in the history of abstract expressionism.