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Doubts Cast on a Trove of Supposed Pollocks (splatter paintings may not be authentic)
The New York Times ^ | February 9, 2006

Posted on 02/08/2006 4:33:12 PM PST by presidio9

A physicist who is broadly experienced in using computers to identify consistent patterns in the drip paintings of Jackson Pollock has determined that half a dozen small paintings recently discovered and claimed by their owner to be original Pollocks do not exhibit the same patterns.

The finding, by Richard P. Taylor, a physics professor at the University of Oregon, does not prove that Pollock did not paint the works, among a cache of 24 paintings found in 2003 in Wainscott, N.Y., by Alex Matter, whose father, Herbert, and mother, Mercedes, were friends of Pollock. But it casts serious doubt on their authenticity, even as Alex Matter is planning for a major exhibition of the paintings this year. And the finding could deepen a dispute among a once-unified group of Pollock scholars who have disagreed publicly over the works' origins.

In previous years Dr. Taylor examined 14 indisputably authentic Pollock paintings by using what is known as fractal geometry, or looking for patterns that recur on finer and finer magnifications, like those in snowflakes. He found that despite the seemingly chaotic nature of the drip paintings, they exhibited remarkably consistent fractal patterns, both in the fluidity of the paint and in the way Pollock applied it as he stalked around a canvas on the ground.

But in a news article being published today in the British scientific journal Nature, he says that his examination last year of transparencies of 6 of the 24 paintings discovered by Mr. Matter showed "significant differences" between their patterns and those of known Pollock works. Further, the analysis, commissioned by the New York foundation that represents Pollock's estate, showed that there were notable variations in the patterns among the six paintings.

"That's either due to one person who is extremely varied," Dr.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: jacksonpollock; splatterpaintings; wesayitsart

1 posted on 02/08/2006 4:33:15 PM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9
Splatter paintings may not be authentic

Sometimes a splatter is just a splatter.

2 posted on 02/08/2006 4:36:19 PM PST by jdm
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To: presidio9

I think, judging by the fluidity of the fractile patterns, that that particular work is either Joan Miro or that elephant at the zoo that does splatter painting.


3 posted on 02/08/2006 4:49:46 PM PST by fat city ("The nation that controls magnetism controls the world.")
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To: presidio9
"Splatter paintings may not be authentic"

How could anyone know?

Sounds tailor made for a 'battle of the experts' lawsuit.
4 posted on 02/08/2006 4:52:43 PM PST by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: presidio9
Doubts Cast on a Trove of Supposed Pollocks

My forebears used to paint a LOT better than that...

5 posted on 02/08/2006 5:14:23 PM PST by mikrofon (Na Zdrowie!)
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To: presidio9

Looks like authentic spatter to me. Go figger.


6 posted on 02/08/2006 5:17:22 PM PST by bannie (The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
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To: jdm
Now you take Andy Warhol, nobody, I mean like, nobody, could silkscreen a soup can like Andy could. Well, sometimes a part-time assistant would do the actual silkscreening, but hey, the point of Andy's art was to make them exactly alike.

Today Andy's stuff is worth millions.

And each soup can painting is unique in that they are guaranteed to be precisely like the others.

Andy should have stamped a few hundred more, because today they are selling like hotcakes.
7 posted on 02/08/2006 5:30:43 PM PST by the final gentleman
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To: presidio9

I have more inspired drop cloths for interior painting than this rubbish.


8 posted on 02/08/2006 5:30:51 PM PST by WorkingClassFilth (I have nothing else to say - for now.)
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To: presidio9
My theory has always been that Jackson Pollock was a brilliant, tormented artist who created great masterpieces in his studio but simply couldn't bear to part with them.

So he stashed them all in his basement and made a living by selling his dropcloths to the public. ;)

9 posted on 02/08/2006 5:30:53 PM PST by Mr. Jeeves ("When the government is invasive, the people are wanting." -- Tao Te Ching)
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To: fat city

BTW, I don't particularly care for Miros's palette, but he had artistic talent. Pollock, OTOH couldn't draw a stick figure.

10 posted on 02/08/2006 8:34:17 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: the final gentleman

Another artist who had talent but belongs in the huckster conversation was Dali. When he was suffering from alzheimer's, his wife got him to sign truckloads of blanks, which later got unknown artists to sketch on. So, in all likelihood that minor Dali sketch your neighbors spent a few thousand dollars on is worth about as much as the the "Persistance of Memory" poster your girlfriend had on the wall of her college dorm.


11 posted on 02/08/2006 8:38:10 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: presidio9

Does this mean I can post Polak jokes? :D~


12 posted on 02/08/2006 8:38:20 PM PST by EveningStar
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Acually, if you have a color printer, you can print this one out, and it will be worth about just as much.

13 posted on 02/08/2006 8:39:22 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: EveningStar

There was a guy who caled into Hannity today, and said that if different cultures have a right to take action when other cultures offend them, we can expect Poland to start bombing us any minute now.


14 posted on 02/08/2006 8:40:57 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: presidio9

LOL! Great! :)


15 posted on 02/08/2006 8:43:51 PM PST by EveningStar
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To: EveningStar

It is interesting to note that after UK, and Australia (and sometimes Isreal), Poland has become our next closest ally.


16 posted on 02/08/2006 8:45:16 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: Mr. Jeeves

Pollock was the first of a long line of college art majors who discovered they had no talent and suddenly became expressionists. They continue to spontaneously appear to this day.


17 posted on 02/08/2006 8:48:53 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: presidio9
Maybeso, presido, but look closely at the yellow-black painting above in this thread.

Maybe Mister Pollock wasn't a first tier painter, but as a designer of intriguing wallpaper he is without peer.
18 posted on 02/08/2006 9:12:27 PM PST by the final gentleman
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To: presidio9

How on earth could anyone actually tell?


19 posted on 02/08/2006 9:17:25 PM PST by SuziQ
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