Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)

Summary

In this video, art historians Steven and Beth discuss Jackson Pollock's monumental painting 'Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They explore how Pollock's abstract expressionism, characterized by spontaneous movements and unconventional materials like house paint, represents a break from traditional art forms. The conversation delves into post-World War II anxieties and the search for new artistic languages, reflecting the existential fears of the era. Pollock's process, akin to a jazz musician improvising, emphasizes emotion, movement, and the physical act of painting, creating a raw, dynamic canvas.

Takeaways

• 🎨 Jackson Pollock's painting 'Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)' is a massive 17-foot-wide artwork originally created in 1950.
• 🖼️ The painting reflects the post-World War II anxiety, a period marked by the Cold War, nuclear threats, and the Holocaust's aftermath.
• 🌀 Pollock was a leading figure in abstract expressionism, a movement that emphasized angst and existential themes.
• 💥 The abstraction in Pollock's work represents a departure from naturalism, embracing a new artistic language for the modern era.
• 🎭 The artist's technique involves spontaneous, unintentional movements, drawing on raw emotion and existential reflection.
• 🖌️ Pollock's method involved using house paint on unprimed canvas, allowing the paint to soak into the fabric and create unique textures.
• 📏 The painting's scale and method of creation harken back to large-scale murals, inspired by artists like Diego Rivera and Siqueiros.
• 🎷 Pollock's approach is often compared to jazz musicians, improvising and 'riffing' with their instruments to create something spontaneous and alive.
• 🕊️ The lack of conscious planning in Pollock's work is a deliberate rejection of traditional art processes like drawing and compositional organization.
• 🖼️ The texture of 'Autumn Rhythm' includes seeping paint, splashes, cracks, and a variety of matte and shiny surfaces, creating a complex visual experience.

Q & A

What is the title of the painting discussed in the script, and how did it evolve over time?

The painting is titled 'Autumn Rhythm (Number 30).' Originally, Jackson Pollock titled it 'Number 30,' but later renamed it 'Autumn Rhythm.' The museum compromised by combining both names.

Why does the speaker mention projecting their own feelings into the painting during the pandemic?

The speaker feels they might be projecting their own darkness into the painting due to the context of the pandemic and the impending presidential election. The artwork's creation just after World War II also evokes feelings of anxiety and existential dread.

What themes and emotions are often associated with Pollock's abstract expressionism?

Themes of angst and anxiety are dominant in Pollock's work, reflective of the post-war moment. His abstract expressionism grapples with existential issues and human existence, particularly during the Cold War and after the horrors of World War II.

Why did Pollock and other abstract expressionists move away from naturalism and figuration?

Pollock and other abstract expressionists felt that naturalism and figuration were no longer sufficient to express the complexities of the post-war world. They sought a new artistic language that could address existential concerns and delve into more universal, abstract ideas.

How did Pollock’s method differ from traditional painting techniques?

Unlike traditional painters who meticulously planned compositions and primed canvases, Pollock worked spontaneously, using unprimed canvases and house paint. He let the paint fall onto the canvas without touching it, embracing chance and physical movement in the process.

What historical influences might have shaped Pollock's large-scale paintings?

Pollock was influenced by the large-scale murals of Mexican artists like Diego Rivera and Siqueiros. These murals were created for the public, emphasizing art's accessibility and impact on society, which may have inspired Pollock's use of enormous canvases.

Why is Pollock’s painting technique compared to a jazz musician’s improvisation?

Pollock's technique is likened to a jazz musician's improvisation because both involve tremendous skill combined with spontaneity. Pollock 'riffed' with his paint, allowing his unconscious and the emotion of the moment to guide his work, much like a jazz musician improvises during a performance.

What effect does painting on unprimed canvas have on Pollock’s work?

By painting on unprimed canvas, Pollock allowed the paint to seep into the fabric, creating a direct interaction between the paint and the canvas. This method produced a unique texture and depth that would have been different if the canvas had been primed.

What range of textures and visual effects can be observed in 'Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)'?

The painting exhibits a wide range of effects: paint seeping into the fabric, splashes and dots that evoke a night sky, areas where paint has pooled and cracked, as well as both soft, atmospheric and sharp, linear forms. There are also contrasts between matte and shiny sections.

How did Pollock's physical movements influence the final appearance of his painting?

Pollock's large, rhythmic movements across the canvas are reflected in the trails of paint. His gestures, flinging paint onto the canvas, created a visual record of his movement through time and space, making the surface of the painting a kind of stage for his physical actions.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Pollock's 'Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)' and its Post-War Context

The scene is set at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the large painting 'Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)' by Jackson Pollock is on display. Steven and Beth discuss the complexities of the painting, noting its creation in 1950 during a time of global anxiety following World War II. Beth relates her feelings of darkness during the pandemic and impending election to the work, which was painted in the aftermath of the war and amidst Cold War tensions. Steven highlights the angst and anxiety of the post-war period, including the threat of nuclear bombs and the recent revelations of the Holocaust, suggesting that these factors influenced abstract expressionists like Pollock.

05:01

🖌️ Pollock’s Break from Traditional Art Forms

Beth and Steven discuss how artists, including Pollock, sought new ways to express the complexities of the post-war era, turning away from traditional forms of naturalism. They suggest that the old artistic language from the Renaissance wasn't sufficient to convey the existential anxieties of the time. Steven reflects on how abstract expressionists moved away from figuration and the representation of the human body, instead exploring themes related to human existence and the threat of its extinction. Pollock’s art was a response to the limitations of surrealism and previous forms of abstraction, diving deeper into unconscious expression.

🎷 Spontaneity and Unintentional Creativity

Steven and Beth delve into the influence of surrealism and the unconscious on Pollock’s process. They reference the idea, dating back to Dada and surrealism, that the rational mind hinders creativity, and that by stepping out of the way, artists could tap into something more elemental and universal. Pollock’s radical departure from representational art marked a high point in modernism. His art was not rooted in nature but in abstract expression, focusing on his inner movements and emotions. Steven draws an analogy between Pollock’s process and a jazz musician, who uses technical skill to improvise and create in the moment.

🖼️ Pollock’s Unique Painting Process

Beth and Steven describe Pollock's unconventional approach to painting, noting that he didn’t paint directly on a primed canvas but let the paint fall onto raw canvas. Beth contrasts this with centuries of traditional art, where artists meticulously prepared their work. Pollock’s use of house paint and his decision to avoid fine art materials represented a break with tradition, aligning his work more with real-world materials and concerns. Beth links Pollock’s large-scale canvases to the Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera, whose public works addressed social issues, suggesting Pollock was similarly interested in creating art on a monumental scale.

🎶 The Rhythm of Pollock’s Painting

Steven compares Pollock’s painting style to jazz, emphasizing the spontaneity and improvisation in his work. Beth and Steven discuss how Pollock’s choice to use unprimed canvas allowed the paint to seep into the fabric, creating varied textures. From close-up, viewers can see a range of effects: splashes, atmospheric areas, shiny and matte surfaces, and dried, cracked paint. Stepping back, the viewer sees Pollock’s large rhythmic movements as he flung the paint, letting gravity pull it onto the canvas. Steven notes that the painting’s vertical display obscures Pollock’s original horizontal process, where he worked above the canvas, treating it as an arena for action.

Keywords

💡Abstract Expressionism

A post-World War II art movement characterized by emotional intensity, abstraction, and spontaneity. In the video, Pollock is described as a leading figure of this movement, which sought to express existential and psychological concerns through non-figurative art. His painting 'Autumn Rhythm' exemplifies the movement’s break from traditional representation.

💡Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)

A painting by Jackson Pollock originally titled 'Number 30' but later renamed 'Autumn Rhythm'. The title reflects Pollock's dynamic, flowing style and the painting's mood, which evokes natural rhythms and raw energy. The painting’s size and non-representational nature mark a departure from traditional, nature-based art forms.

💡Cold War

A period of political tension between the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II. The video mentions the Cold War to contextualize the atmosphere of fear and anxiety in 1950, the year Pollock painted 'Autumn Rhythm'. The existential threats of nuclear war influenced artists' desire for new expressive languages.

💡Existentialism

A philosophy focused on human existence, freedom, and the search for meaning in a world seen as indifferent or chaotic. Pollock’s work, like 'Autumn Rhythm', can be seen as a visual expression of existential concerns, reflecting a search for meaning through abstract forms rather than traditional representations of reality.

💡Surrealism

An earlier art movement that sought to explore the unconscious mind and the irrational. The video references Surrealism as a precursor to Abstract Expressionism, emphasizing how artists like Pollock moved beyond conscious thought, aiming to tap into deeper, unintentional forces that could reveal universal truths.

💡Spontaneity

An essential element of Pollock’s artistic process, referring to the unplanned, instinctive approach to his paintings. In 'Autumn Rhythm', Pollock allowed the paint to fall freely onto the canvas, capturing the rawness of his movements. This spontaneity contrasts with earlier traditions of deliberate composition in art.

💡Action painting

A style of painting closely associated with Pollock, characterized by the physical act of painting itself as part of the artwork. In 'Autumn Rhythm', Pollock’s movement around the canvas and his gestures are integral to the painting’s form, turning the act of creation into a performative, rhythmic process.

💡Raw canvas

Pollock’s decision to paint on unprimed, raw canvas is significant. Unlike traditional artists who prepared their canvases with gesso, Pollock let the paint seep directly into the fabric. This technique gave the painting a unique texture and appearance, enhancing its organic, visceral quality.

💡Jazz

Used as an analogy in the video, jazz represents the improvisational and fluid nature of Pollock’s painting technique. Just as a jazz musician riffs on a theme, Pollock let his instincts guide the placement of paint on the canvas, allowing for unpredictability and freedom in his work.

💡Post-war art

Art produced in the aftermath of World War II, reflecting the psychological and existential concerns of the time. The video highlights how Pollock’s 'Autumn Rhythm' embodies the angst, anxiety, and search for new artistic languages in a world that had experienced unprecedented trauma and upheaval.

Highlights

The painting being discussed is Jackson Pollock's 'Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)', originally titled 'Number 30'.

The painting is 17 feet wide and was created in 1950, during the post-World War II era.

The conversation touches on how the painting evokes personal emotions, influenced by the current context of the pandemic and an upcoming presidential election.

Pollock was one of the leading figures in the abstract expressionist movement, a group of artists grappling with post-war angst and existential anxiety.

The abstract expressionists, including Pollock, sought new artistic languages to express the trauma and complexity of the post-World War II period, moving away from traditional naturalism.

Pollock’s work reflects a profound shift from representational art to pure abstraction, symbolizing the upending of image-making traditions.

The painting was made in Pollock's small studio in East Hampton, where he unrolled the canvas on the floor and applied paint without touching it directly with a brush.

Pollock used unconventional materials like house paint and enamel, breaking with fine art traditions to bring art into the real world.

Pollock's process involved physical movements over the canvas, letting the paint fall naturally, drawing parallels to the improvisation of jazz musicians.

Pollock intentionally painted on unprimed canvas so the paint could seep into the surface, achieving a raw, immediate effect.

The surface of the painting reveals diverse textures—areas where paint seeped into the fabric, splashed, pooled, dried, and cracked—offering a variety of visual experiences.

Pollock’s use of large canvases is reminiscent of the grand scale of Mexican muralists like Siqueiros and Diego Rivera, whose works were created for the masses, not private collectors.

Pollock’s art captures a balance between spontaneity and control, with his unconscious emotions guiding the painting process.

The painting acts as a register of Pollock's physical movements and gestures, turning the canvas into a stage where he performed his art.

The conversation reflects on how the vertical display of the painting in museums contrasts with how Pollock created it horizontally on the floor, influencing how it is perceived by viewers.

Transcripts

(jazz music)

- [Steven] We're in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,

looking at an enormous painting by Jackson Pollock.

This is 17 feet wide and he originally titled it "Number 30"

but then later "Autumn Rhythm."

So the museum is creating a compromise

and they're calling it "Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)".

- [Beth] This is a complicated painting.

And for some reason to me today

in the midst of the pandemic,

less than two weeks before a presidential election,

I feel like I might be projecting some of my own darkness

into this painting that I know is painted in 1950,

just five years after the end of World War II.

- [Steven] A lot of the discussion

about the abstract expressionists

of which Pollock was one of the leading figures

deals with the issue of an angst and anxiety.

These were issues that were dominant in the post-war moment.

1950 was the Cold War.

The atomic bombs were threatening

in a way that had never happened before in human history.

The enormity of the Holocaust

had been revealed only a few years earlier.

- [Beth] And there were the trials of Nazis

that went on for years after the end of the war.

I can imagine there was a sense for artists

that a new language was needed to express

this post World War II era

and that the old systems of naturalism

coming out of the Renaissance

was not a language that was viable

given the new circumstances.

- [Steven] I think a number of artists

didn't feel that naturalism, that figuration,

the representation of the human body was going to cut it.

They were looking for something that was more profound,

that was able to grapple with existential issues,

issues of human existence and the potential extinguishing

of human existence.

- [Beth] If you think about the decade or two before this,

we have surrealism and this interest in the unconscious

and delving beyond the conscious everyday mind

and looking for a greater, deeper truth

about human existence, about the way our minds work.

- [Steven] Well, there was this idea

that goes back to the surrealist.

It goes back even to Dada,

that the conscious rational mind got in the way,

that it was antithetical to the creative impulse,

that if we could somehow step out of the way

and allow something more elemental,

more unintentional to come to the fore,

that would somehow be more truthful and more universal.

What we're seeing is a high point in modern art,

where artists were stepping away from the representation

of nature,

something that had been central to the making of art,

this interest in something that was not abstract in nature,

but it was purely abstract.

It's radicality can't be overstated.

This was completely upending the traditions of image-making.

He's turning away from the representation of nature

and looking into himself, his own physical movements,

his own emotional state at this specific moment in time.

- [Beth] So we're not looking at,

for example, analytic cubism, which is an abstraction

from nature where Picasso takes a guitar

and disassembles it into geometric forms,

but here, he's not starting from nature,

but starting from the place of an individual

in a moment in time.

- [Steven] And in a particular place,

this was made in his studio, a small barn

in the back of the house at Jackson Pollock

and Lee Krasner's property

out in the Springs in East Hampton.

It's a relatively small space.

This is an enormous canvas, he unrolled it on the floor.

He didn't prime it, he didn't add gesso.

He didn't seal the surface.

He painted directly on the raw canvas,

but I can't say even that he painted it,

he didn't touch the canvas with his brush.

He moved over the canvas and let paint fall on it.

- [Beth] So there is a kind of rawness.

For centuries, whenever an artist painted,

not only did they prime the canvas,

but they most often prepared drawings,

organize the composition, thought it through.

There was a real intentionality and consciousness.

That was an important part of the value of a work of art.

- [Steven] And here he's flipping that value on its head.

Pollock used house paint, that black is an enamel.

It's a break with the refinements of fine art materials,

bringing art into the real world.

And that's a reminder that Pollock had been,

especially earlier in his career,

interested in social issues.

This is an enormous canvas that might remind us

of large scale mural paintings.

- [Beth] So he's looking back

to the great Mexican muralists

like Siqueiros and Diego Rivera,

and thinking about the enormous scale of those murals

and in art, that was not a small paintings for a collector,

but large paintings for the masses.

- [Steven] What Pollock is after here

is a kind of spontaneity, it's an immediate invention.

He's drawing on his tremendous skill,

but he's then letting loose, and probably the best analogy

is to a highly accomplished jazz musician.

Somebody who can play the saxophone or the piano

with extraordinary skill,

but then allows themselves to riff,

allows themselves to play and allows the unconscious

and the moment to come to the fore.

- [Beth] And the emotion of the moment

becomes the guiding principles.

- [Steven] And I want to go back to a point

you made a moment before

he's not painting on unprimed canvas,

simply to break with tradition.

He wants the paint to seep in and stay in the canvas itself,

not to ride on its surface always.

And so there was a specific quality that was achievable

because the paint was in direct contact

with the weave of the cloth.

- [Beth] And there's so many ways

that we experienced the paint here.

We see areas where it did seep into the fabric.

We see dots that look like splashes.

We see other dots that have a feeling of a night sky.

We see areas where the paint has pulled up and dried

and cracked.

We see areas where the paint is soft and atmospheric,

areas where it's sharp and linear, where it's matte,

areas where it's shiny.

There's so much to explore when you got up close.

- [Steven] But then you can also pull back

and you can see these long trails of paint.

And you can imagine the artist moving around

and rhythmically with large arching motions,

flinging that paint into the air

and allowing gravity to pull it down.

The surface of this painting then becomes of register

of Pollock's movement through time and through space.

It becomes a kind of stage.

And in one sense, it's a shame

that the painting is vertical hanging on the wall

because it was made horizontally, he was over it.

And sometimes when I walk up to a Pollock,

I'll look at it from the side and tilt my head

so I can look across it the way he saw it,

more as an arena to act in than a canvas to look at it.

(jazz music)