"Jackson Pollock: Black and White" 1969 Marlborough Gallery Exhibition Catalogue
$250
[60] pp.
Marlborough-Gerson Gallery Inc
41 East 57th Street
March 1969
11 3/4" x 8 1/2"
VG
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Scarce gallery exhibition catalogue w/ 21 paintings featured from Jackson Pollock's studio at The Springs, Long Island, New York
(January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956)
Jackson Pollock’s Black Paintings
Jackson Pollock, a great American painter of the 20th century, established a distinct way of painting that produced a major impact on the world of art. In 1950, Jackson Pollock created his ‘black paintings’, unique and remarkable pieces of art that featured a combination of erratically-controlled painting and the use of the colour black.
The Pollock Style
Jackson Pollock was part of the Abstract Expressionism movement, a post-World War II art evolution which essentially put New York at the center of the Western art world. Painting in this style consisted of applying emphasis on spontaneous motion. Pollock was well accustomed to that approach as he had already adopted ‘action’ painting, a technique whereby colour is randomly splashed, smeared and dripped onto a canvas. Part of what made Pollock’s style unique was his belief that the journey involved in creating art was just as important as the finished product.
Pollock’s Use of Black
Although Jackson Pollock’s black paintings are sometimes referred to as ‘black and white’, works by other painters such as Kooning, Motherwell, and Kline better fit the ‘black and white’ tag. The primary colour in Pollock’s paintings is black.
Pollock began his black paintings by pouring black Duco paint, which he thinned with turpentine, directly onto a blank canvas. The canvas was soft, unlike a primed canvas which is firm, so when the black paint was applied, it blurred (as when a photograph is enlarged and lines appear frayed).
According to his wife Lee Krasner Pollock, her husband’s painting tools were sticks, basting syringes, and old brushes that had become stiff.