Jackson Pollock Depression

We want to speak about Jackson Pollock art, life and depression

Jackson Pollock was one of the most influential and controversial painters of the twentieth century. He was an alcoholic with a quick temper and quick fists. He once said: “The problem isn’t painting; it’s what to do when you aren’t painting.” Indeed, his problem was not painting!

Jackson Pollock studied art in California (along with two of his five brothers) He took his studying very seriously and focused for a while on anatomical drawings. He later moved to New York where he worked for several years (1938-1943) for the Federal Arts Project. The FAP was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression Era’s New Deal. Its primary goal was to employ out of work artists. These artists were hired primarily to create art for public spaces. FAP artists are reputed to have created more than 200,000 works of art from posters to murals, some of which stand as the most significant pieces of public art in the USA. Jackson Pollock was one of these artists.

However, Jackson Pollock is best known for his Action Painting. Action painting (also sometimes called Gestural Abstraction) is a technique where paint is spontaneously splashed, dribbled or smeared onto the canvas as opposed to being carefully and mindfully applied with a paintbrush. This style was widespread in the 1950’s and 1960’s and is closely linked with Abstract Expressionism. The term “Action Painting” was coined by American art critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952. This style of painting focuses on art as a process rather than just a finished product. The act of creation itself is the point and not just the painting alone.

In 1945 Jackson Pollock married fellow artist Lee Krasner. They lived together for several years on a small homestead in The Springs near East Hampton. It is possible to visit the Pollock- Krasner House and Studio Center. In the studio you are provided with special padded slippers and you can walk across the paint laden floor, the very spot where many of Jackson Pollock’s masterpieces were created.