about the artist
Jackson Pollock, Bird. (1941) Oil and sand on canvas, 27 3/4" x 24 1/4" (70.5 x 61.6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Lee Krasner in memory of Jackson Pollock. Photograph © 1999 The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Pollock's sources for a personal artistic language expanded under the influence of the Mexican muralists. Their belief in the primal continuum between ancient and contemporary cultures spurred Pollock's passion for Native American art. Bird's sand-embedded surface is reminiscent of the practice of Indian sand painting, while symbols such as the heraldic eye and eagle are incorporated from Indian pictographic tradition.


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