Posted on 05/15/2005 1:48:15 PM PDT by Liz
An example of Pollock's work (not one of the missing)
32 artworks were discovered a little more than two years ago in a wrapped package in Long Island.
The son of two artists who were friends and contemporaries of Jackson Pollock has announced that 32 previously unrecorded works by Pollock were found among his late parents' belongings.
Alex Matter -- son of photographer, filmmaker and graphic designer Herbert Matter and abstract painter Mercedes Matter -- said through a spokeswoman that the 32 artworks were discovered a little more than two years ago in a wrapped package in Herbert Matter's storage space on Long Island.
.....Alex Matter did not announce the discovery until now because of intermittent ill health and because the pieces required cleaning and stabilization.
The works, ranging from 5-by-7 inches to 16-by-17 1/2 inches, date from 1946 to 1949.
They include 22 mixed-media "drip" paintings on boards as well as drawings.
None of the pieces is signed, although three bear the artist's initials.
Ellen Landau, a Case Western Reserve University humanities professor who has written a book on Pollock, said five or six of the pieces are unfinished.
Landau said she believes Pollock did not sign the works because he never planned to exhibit them but that they bear unmistakable characteristics of his style. "Their provenance is excellent," she said.
Landau, who co-curated a retrospective of the works of Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner, in the late 1980s, said she has been asked by the Matter family to organize a touring exhibition including the recently discovered pieces...........
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Someone should make sure the paint in dry.
Jackson Pollock (1912-56) was the commanding figure of the Abstract Expressionist movement.....in the `drip and splash' style for which he is best known.
Instead of using the traditional easel, he affixed his canvas to the floor or the wall and poured and dripped his paint from a can; instead of using brushes he manipulated it with `sticks, trowels or knives' (to use his own words), sometimes obtaining a heavy impasto by an admixture of `sand, broken glass or other foreign matter'........dubbed Action painting.
Pollock's name is also associated with the introduction of the All-over style of painting which avoids any points of emphasis or identifiable parts within the whole canvas.
The design of his painting had no relation to the shape or size of the canvas -- indeed in the finished work the canvas was sometimes docked or trimmed to suit the image.
Did you see the biopic of Pollock starring Ed Harris as the artist?
I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. It may be worth millions, but to me, it still looks like something the cat threw up.
I continually am amazed at the ugly vases and stuff people bring to Antiques Road Show that turns out to be worth small fortunes.
If Pollock could have urinated with paint on a canvas it would look about the same - he's always struck me as a master charlatan, but then I guess I'm just not attuned to the genius of his work....
I know I am old and rather dumb, but just how is this different than someone selling a drop cloth after the house painters finish?
Well, I'll go out on a limb and say it. Jackson Pollock was an interesting and dedicated artist, but his paintings are basically junk.
They are historically important, and there's certainly a high-priced market for them. The discoverers of these paints will do very well by them. But they are still junk, as is most modern art, music, and sculpture.
No question that he was talented, but he put his talents to poor use, as did most of the avant garde of the 20th century. Even Picasso, the most powerful and talented of them all, put his talents to bad use. He debases and distorts the people he painted, and his work is frequently cruel and sadistic. I don't see any of that kind of cruelty in Pollock, but I do see talent gone to waste.
No offense to Pollock, but I think I could paint that on a 2 day Rolling Rock bender.
Re: "The Pollock find is worth millions in today's art market."
Good Heavens WHY?!?!?!
Have you seen the example above?
When I was a kid we use to play a game called "Masterpiece". No one ever wanted the Pollock painting that was part of the game. I've seen better art on the bottom of a bird cage.
Welcome to FR. David Mc Callum was my absolute fav!
Hey guess what? I just found some Jackson Pollock paintings in my garage. I found them wrapped up with the stuff the painters left after they finished painting my bathroom and hallway. Yeah yeah, that's the ticket they are by Jackson Pollock, painted on brown paper and masking tape!
(Excuse me if I am under whelmed by Jack Pollock paintings real or faked.)
I remember "Masterpiece"...what a great game.
"Ellen Landau, a Case Western Reserve University humanities professor who has written a book on Pollock, said five or six of the pieces are unfinished."
UNFINISHED?? Can't be! I really, truly want to know how anyone can determine when such garbage is 'finished'.... a few more drips and splotches and this one is finished to perfection, but THAT one needs some more paint.... but then who's to say what's really finished, or what's really art?
And now making the news is Pollock artwork which was already found more than 2 years ago? Skeptical due to the fact that the time when the paintings were discovered and when they were reported are two very different years. Therefore, yes, the buyer of these paintings should, indeed, ensure the paint is dry!
Re: "I don't see any of that kind of cruelty in Pollock, but I do see talent gone to waste."
Well you must have a better eye for talent than I. Because I just don't see it, never have.
I have heard it said at art school that it takes 2 people to paint a painting. One to paint it and one to tell him when to quit.
LOL Great photo! We are also paying lots for elephant art.
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