Jackson_Pollock_-_Lavender_Mist

Ruth McGinlay Jackson Pollock ‘Lavender Mist’ From 1947 Pollock began a series of 'drip' paintings and 'Lavender Mist' can be associated with this group of paintings, many of which were simply titled as numbers. Jackson Pollock's groundbreaking work, 'Lavender Mist (Number 1)' was painted in 1950. The painting is housed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, USA. Pollock created the painting using a variety of materials including enamel house paints which Pollock found easier to work with due to their fluid consistency, apposed to traditional, thicker oil based paints. At the time this experimental use of these paints was an innovative and fresh concept. The painting also includes unorthodox materials such as sand and glass. And by laying the canvas (221 x 300 cm) on the floor Pollock randomly poured or dripped paint over without touching it. In addition a variety of utensils including brushes, knives and sticks were used as well as his hands. This approach to the painting was a radical, unique style in the form of 'drip' painting, seen as a flowing, romantic expression of working. And it is for reasons such as Pollock's movement away from the traditional artists use of an easel, paintbrush and palette he is seen as a pioneer for the movement of 'Abstract Expressionism' and one of the most influential abstract painters of the 20th century. "The dancelike movements Pollock made during the painting process had frequently been described as encouraging a free flow of unconscious imagery and its immediate communication to the canvas."1 The composition of 'Lavender Mist' emanates the appearance of many live and violent interlacing strings of colour which span the whole area of the canvas. However, because of this system the energetic design succeeds in inducing a sense of controlled chaos. This may be because when producing the painting Pollock entered the canvas and walked over it while sporadically scattering paint from above. I can imagine that this process used to create the painting, would make it impossible to imitate 'Lavender Mist', even more so because it has been produced by building up the paint and other materials, layer upon layer. It could also be from using this method and the choice of materials that it would contribute to a varying thickness and uneven finish to the texture of the canvas. However it must be remembered that the painting is intended to be observed as flat and the handprints which reside on the painting reiterate this. "Perhaps the most compelling evidence of Pollock's visceral and dynamic involvement in the creation of Lavender Mist is the mark of his hands in the paint. These handprints not only serve as a primitive stamp of ownership and creativity, they also emphasize the flatness of the canvas, thus underscoring the nonillusionistic nature of Pollock's art."2 It is due to these efforts in creating this style of painting that Jackson Pollock was associated with the term 'Action Painting' which from around 1950 was used to distinguish a group of Abstract Expressionists including Pollock. This term is a style of abstract painting which involves manoeuvres such as dripping, pouring and the throwing of paint in the hope of producing an improvised and unstudied finish. "In Action painting the act of painting itself, being the moment of the artist’s creative interaction with his materials, was as significant as the finished work."3 The technique was intentional and the process, controlled, with the result being an explosion of colour. This arrangement of colour, primarily made up of black, white, gray, blue, pink, brown and yellow fuse together which gives the impression of a lavender shade. An absence of subject matter encourages the viewer to translate the painting for themselves. This practice discards traditional notions of composition and there is no point of rest for the eye. I imagine this would have been Pollock’s intention and by doing so there appears to be no identifiable elements in the canvas. The title 'Lavender Mist' had originally been called 'Number 1'. This was perhaps named so to allow the work to be viewed with no preset ideas. It was one of his friends, an art critic Clement Greenberg, who recommended the title 'Lavender Mist'. "Art critic Clement Greenberg, Pollock's friend and a champion of abstract expressionism, suggested the name Lavender Mist for the painting originally called Number 1, 1950. Greenberg's more evocative title conveys the painting's strong atmospheric effect, though there is no lavender on the canvas."4 Jackson Pollock had noticeably been influenced by Pablo Picasso and American Indian art, particularly with his earlier work. Yet it was Pollock's later works which are considered the most important contributions to Abstract Expressionism- 'Lavender Mist' being one of them. This painting was less typical of his work if comparing to the earlier although it could be grouped with the collection of 'drip' style paintings being produced around 1947 to 1950.