Jackson Pollock 51

Every art school student is sure to have seen this video at least once in an art history class or painting class. It’s as important to understanding Pollock’s work as Clement Greenberg was. One thing I didn’t remember from seeing this in school, the music in the beginning. I thought I was watching A Texas Chainsaw Massacre for a minute there.

drawnblog:

In the summer of 1950, Hans Namuth approached Jackson Pollock and asked the abstract expressionist painter if he could photograph him in his studio, working with his “drip” technique of painting. When Namuth arrived, he found:

A dripping wet canvas covered the entire floor. Blinding shafts of sunlight hit the wet canvas, making its surface hard to see. There was complete silence…. Pollock looked at the painting. Then unexpectedly, he picked up can and paintbrush and started to move around the canvas. It was as if he suddenly realized the painting was not finished. His movements, slow at first, gradually became faster and more dancelike as he flung black, white and rust-colored paint onto the canvas.

The images from this shoot “helped transform Pollock from a talented, cranky loner into the first media-driven superstar of American contemporary art, the jeans-clad, chain-smoking poster boy of abstract expressionism,” one critic later wrote in The Washington Post. But Namuth wasn’t satisfied that he had really captured the essence of Pollock’s work. He wanted to capture Pollock in motion and color, to focus on the painter and painting alike.

Above, you can watch the result of Namuth’s second effort. The ten-minute film, simply called Jackson Pollock 51 (the 51 being short for 1951), lets you see Pollock painting from a unique angle — through glass. The film achieved Namuth’s aesthetic goals, but it came at a price. Apparently the filming taxed Pollock emotionally, and by the evening, the painter decided to pour himself some bourbon, his first drink in two years. A blowout argument followed; Pollock never stopped drinking again; and it was downhill from there…

(via Jackson Pollock: Lights, Camera, Paint! (1951) | Open Culture)

Mid-century Illustration

I love the fluid nature of mid-century art, especially commercial art and illustration. These are the best, I especially love the fashionable young lady watching TV while a Calder spins over her head.

I wish I had the book to actually read!

theoinglis:

Im always on the look out for second hand books, so yesterday when I walked past a church with a sign outside saying ‘book fare’ I couldn’t resist!

Got this rather nice book; True to Type by Denys Parsons for £2. It was published in 1955. The yellow of the cover and its illustration caught my eye, the drawings in the book are by Haro. Can’t find anything online about Haro, which is a shame as the illustrations in this are really lovely and simple. Plus there are lots of them, way more than other old illustrated books I’ve almost bought before.

I love the mid-century modern furniture in the 3rd picture, and the policeman in the 4th. But they are all great!

In a strange coincidence I saw the exact same book minus the dust jacket for sale at the flea market today for the same price!

The rest of the illustrations and some more photos are on my flickr here