Jackson Pollock was born in 1912 in Iowa and later adopted by the Pollock family. He then moved to and from California and Arizona, totalling 9 times. He settled in Los Angeles for highschool and trained in drawing and painting. After highschool in 1930 he moved to New York where he further studied drawing, painting, and composition. Pollock lived in poverty for about two years, sometimes crashing with his two brothers.

Pollock’s early work during the great depression was of small landscapes, inspired by photographs of his birthplace in Cody, Wyoming. Pollock began treatment for his severe alcoholism and nervous breakdowns in 1937 and was institutionalized a year later. Post recovery, his first wall mural was done in 1944 and captured him coming into his own style. His 1940s paintings show how he struggled to translate his personality and self into visual art pieces and paintings. This gave way to the signature style of his drip painting, use of the All-over method, and automatism. He really hit his stride around the late 1940s and early 50s, all the pieces from this period were the most influential and capture who he was as an artist.

His usual method of creating often consisted of placing a large canvas on the floor and harnessing gravity, velocity, and momentum for his works. Pollock’s style was so important because he introduced the All-over method. The All-over method means that the artist purposefully avoided having one clear focus of the piece. Pieces that use this method tend to be abstract, busy, and totally cover the canvas. This requires an abstract composition that lacks dimension or point of interest. The All-over technique usually consists of a canvas being fully or mostly covered by the medium. The All-over style was unheard of before Pollock and was one of the elements that has made him one of the most distinguished and important American artists.

Because of Pollock’s abstract style, it can make it hard to see what he is trying to convey. A lot of his art was centered around and about nature's constant mutability. This theme can not only be concluded from his final images but also his method. By applying natural forces such as gravity to numerous pieces, it alludes to freedom of movement and the way nature’s change is persistent. Pollock directly makes use of natural forces by placing the canvas on the ground, tapping into gravity to spread and splatter the paint on the canvas. A perfect example is Pollock’s Autumn Rhythm (number 30) (the unofficial title), created in October. It is said this piece shows nature’s constant flux, fluidity, and instability. The movement of nature is easy to see within the process he used and the end product of the work.

         

  9A

Another perfect painting to look at for a deeper meaning is Summertime 9A. Summertime 9A was created in 1948 and depicts how Pollock felt during this time of his life. 1948 was a sunny time in his life. Married three years prior, he had just moved to a farmhouse in the countryside with his wife in Long Island. The rhythm and yellow in the painting could be seen as symbolic of the newfound stability and positivity in his life. 



Jackson Pollock died on August 11, 1956 by a car crash.