Jackson Pollock

1950

Hans Namuth

Artist, American, born Germany, 1915 - 1990

A bald, pale-skinned man holding a can of house paint stands facing us in this vertical black and white photograph. Fabric is spread across the floor, and the edge near the man is rolled up. The light-colored fabric is spattered with white and dark drips and skeins of paint. To the right, on the far side of the canvas, his legs are spread in a wide stance, one knee bent as he steps across the corner of the canvas. Having been photographed while in motion, his head and body is blurred. His head is turned to our left and his shoulders angled slightly to our right. His right side, to our left, is brightly lit by a shaft of intense light that falls from the upper right. The other side of his body is cast into deep shadow. A canvas hanging beyond him is filled with a dense web of lines and splotches in shades of black, white, and gray over a light background.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Diana and Mallory Walker Fund

  • Dimensions

    image (visible): 47.5 x 39.3 cm (18 11/16 x 15 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    2008.13.1


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Hans Namuth; Jerald Ordover, New York; (Leslie Tonkonow), New York, NY; purchased 2008 by NGA.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

verso not examined

Wikidata ID

Q64154712


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