Pollock is a movie showing the art and life of American painter Jackson Pollock. He was once considered the greatest living painter in the United States. Life Magazine ran a headline in one of their banners that read “Jackson Pollock; Is he the greatest living painter in the United States? “Pollock was very well known in his home city of New York as well as being known all around the world. He became known as America’s first “Art Star”. This movie goes through the life and struggles of Mr. Pollock. He battled severe depression in which he used alcohol to help cope with his mental illness.
In one scene a reporter from Life Magazine asked Jackson Pollock “Howdo you know when you’re finished with a painting? He then replied “How do you know when you’re done making love” I think this shows how truly insane he was.He was brutally miserable and made everyone around him miserable. A lot of Jackson Pollock’s bad times revolved around his alcoholism. In the movie he is noticeably happier during the period he stopped drinking. His alcoholism also led to his death in a drunk driving accident that also took the life of an innocent woman. I think this movie is more about the work rather then the art.Meaning it shows how much work he put into his artwork. It also shows how hard everyday life was for Jackson Pollock. There is a point made in the movie that it takes more for an alcoholic to get out of bed in the morning then it does fora normal person to go through their day. Pollock is sluggish and tired at most times in the morning suggesting he is hung-over.
The movie starts in post-war setting. You can tell because everyone is smoking cigarettes and the rent is very cheap. The time period matches perfectly with post World War 2. It even says in the movie Pollock was turned down from the military for being mentally unstable. Jackson Pollock is married to Lee Krasner who just happens to be an art critic. Many would say if she didn’t poke her head through his door his career would have never took off. Lee Krasner helped her husband land a meeting with a very famous art critic Peggy Guggenheim. He almost misses the meeting, showing his knack for just simply messing everything up. She is immediately impressed with his work. In the film it shows her pressing her hands against the paintings to see the temperature.
Jackson Pollock is a painter like most that had tremendous confidence in his work. In one scene where is he is painting a mural for Peggy’s town house he shows how confident he is in his work. This mural is truly amazing and was an earlier work of Pollock where he did not use is signature drippy action. In this mural he instead used a controlled swirl forum. Pollock uses a bunch of different vibrant colors but he makes it looks they are all one. The mural was 20 feet high by 8 feet high. Pollock initially thought the mural was too big. During the unveiling of the piece Jackson Pollock was bragging how good his art work was. He was wasted, he then walked over to the fire place and started urinating. Once again showing how bad his alcoholism was. Pollock uses surrealist abstraction in this work, which was the largest he ever made.
I think Jackson Pollock used his art to escape from his depression. His artwork brings him happiness. I think it brought him joy that his artwork brought others happiness. He could escape the everyday life and just get away and paint. His success was also his downfall.He became known for gloating about his work and telling everyone how great he was. In the movie he was very verbal about his hatred for Picasso but they have a lot of similarities with their depression. They both use Art to cope with their depression and both are considered the greatest of their respected generations. I do not know if Ed Harris can actually paint but he makes it appear that he can really paint and makes sure it is very historically accurate in showing how Jackson Pollock painted. He uses a progressing, doggedly form of brushstrokes. The film also shows his use of dynamic dripping and spattering. It shows how he paints with gradients and many vibrant colors.
I think this movie does a great job of showing the life of an artist in New York City in the 40’s and 50’s. There was not a true American art Star before Jackson Pollock and I think he did a great job of cementing his name as one of the great American painters. This was a time in New York with a lot of great artists with great ideas but Jackson Pollock is truly remembered more than all of them.
