Jackson Pollack

This semester I have been studying the works of Jackson Pollack and I have to say I do not understand what the big fuss is about. Jackson Pollack is famous for breaking the traditions of art, and making painting into something new and unique.  What I am struggling with is that these later Pollack paintings are sold for millions of dollars and, to me, they look like lines and dots. My little sister, who is in elementary school, threw some paint onto a blank canvas and earned an “A” and many accolades on her art assignment because it was deemed that she created a “classic Pollack painting”.  Not to offend anyone, including my little sister, but that is ridiculous. Between you, me, and the media, as admitted by Pollack himself, he had one too many, was around some paint and woke up the next day with a splattered canvas which he then called his new phase of art and sold his painting(s) in order eat.  He died at the peak of his fame, never going back to his style, which was extraordinary, and is remembered as one of the “great American artists”.

            Pollack simply, in addition to being an artist, was a marketing genius. He created his paintings, set a price, and then refused sell them for less than what he deemed their worth thereby making the paintings costly and rare.  This strategy enhanced his reputation and once you have a big reputation in the art world, you can blow your nose in a tissue, call it art and sell it for millions of dollars.

            Remembering Jackson Pollack, not for his art, but for his ability to market himself to the art world and trick everyone into thinking that he was a genius in order to make money, does not do him justice.  At one point he truly painted like the talented artist he was, not selling out for profit.   But, art critics and viewers and connoisseurs alike are to blame.  I truly believe that when they look at Pollack’s paintings they see the same thing that I do, except they do not have the courage to say it is nothing special, but have to praise it because everyone else does.  In reality, we are the Emperor in Pollack’s clothes.  We just need a child to say that we are  “naked” or just admit that Pollack’s paintings look like a fourth graders work of art, but that just adds to the extent of Pollack’s legacy.