Jackson Pollock
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Jackson Pollock
（Icons of America）
Yale University Press, c2012
- : cloth
- : pbk
Available at 2 libraries
Note
Size of pbk.: 20 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-136) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: cloth ISBN 9780300163254
Description
Jackson Pollock's revolutionary 'drip paintings' put American art on the map, representing the first real break with the formal structures of European art. But it was not only his vibrant canvases that made him a celebrity during his life and a legendary figure after his death in a car crash at the age of forty-four. In the 1950s Pollock became an icon of rebellion, brooding and defiant, prefiguring actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean, who came to epitomize the persona. Pollock is even thought to be a model for Stanley Kowalski, the antihero of A Streetcar Named Desire and the role that first made Brando famous. Now Evelyn Toynton offers an intriguing look at Pollock's dramatic life and legacy, from his hardscrabble childhood in Wyoming and Arizona; to New York City during the Great Depression, the scene of his earliest encounters and struggles with contemporary art; to his days in the run-down Long Island fishing village his presence helped transform into a fashionable resort. Viewing Pollock within the context of his time, Toynton illustrates his wide-ranging influence on art and pop culture - and examines why he continues to captivate, both as an artist and as a man.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780300192506
Description
A compelling look at Jackson Pollock's vibrant, quintessentially American art and the turbulent life that gave rise to it
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) not only put American art on the map with his famous "drip paintings," he also served as an inspiration for the character of Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire-the role that made Marlon Brando famous. Like Brando, Pollock became an icon of rebellion in 1950s America, and the brooding, defiant persona captured in photographs of the artist contributed to his celebrity almost as much as his notorious paintings did. In the years since his death in a drunken car crash, Pollock's hold on the public imagination has only increased. He has become an enduring symbol of the tormented artist-our American van Gogh.
In this highly engaging book, Evelyn Toynton examines Pollock's itinerant and poverty-stricken childhood in the West, his encounters with contemporary art in Depression-era New York, and his years in the run-down Long Island fishing village that, ironically, was transformed into a fashionable resort by his presence. Placing the artist in the context of his time, Toynton also illuminates the fierce controversies that swirled around his work and that continue to do so. Pollock's paintings captured the sense of freedom and infinite possibility unique to the American experience, and his life was both an American rags-to-riches story and a darker tale of the price paid for celebrity, American style.
by "Nielsen BookData"