Jackson POLLOCK (1912-1956)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Abstract art II Art on paper
Chronology : 1940-1949 1946 1948 1949 1950 1951
See also : Abstract art II Art on paper
Chronology : 1940-1949 1946 1948 1949 1950 1951
Intro
Jackson Pollock spent his youth in the American West. His heightened creativity retains nothing from the conventional painting. On the contrary, he finds his influences with the Navajo sand figures, the Mexican muralists including Orozco and the automatic writing of French surrealist poets.
Arrived in New York in 1930 at the age of 18, he is attentive to all originalities. He attends a demonstration of the use of liquid paint by Siqueiros and sees Janet Sobel's open patterns covering the entire surface of the image without being altered at the frame.
During an exhibition at the MoMA in 1941, he attended a Navajo sand-picture show that reminded him of his childhood in Wyoming. Creation is a ritual where the original image disappears under the accumulation of layers.
This experience will give him the idea of placing his canvas or paper flat on the floor of his workshop for a better precision of his dissemination of colors. Executing his gestural dance around the work as it goes along, he realizes Malevich's old dream of a re-orientable image in all directions that also gives the illusion of spreading beyond its own limits.
While canceling the figurative, Malevich also wanted to highlight the material. Pollock manages a similar approach.
Treated for his alcoholism by a psychoanalyst close to Jung, he is convinced that the most important is the creative act, so that the artist is quite right to hide his original message when he completes the artwork.
Peggy Guggenheim opens her aptly named Art of this Century gallery in New York in 1942. She is keenly interested in the synthesis of disparate influences practiced by Pollock. He is indeed enough spontaneous and innovative to embody the power and action of the American dream. She sponsors him without being close to him.
In the big city, the artist cannot solve his social problems. His wife Lee Krasner got the brilliant intuition that life in the big city is not conducive to the artistic stimulus of this violent and misanthropic young man. She married him and moved with him at the end of 1945 to a barn with sea sight in Long Island.
Pollock improves his technique throughout 1946, and abandons his stylized figuration. Wanting to work on a hard surface, he uses the masonite. He begins to apply the pigment in impasto directly at the outlet of the tube and gradually gives up the brush. For convenience, he lays on the floor the surface to be painted.
The use of sprayed or flowing liquid paint is made possible by that position of the support. His hand acquires an unprecedented freedom. Pollock's art conveys his subconscious energy, just as Chinese calligraphy is a direct transcription of an artist's emotion. Masson is referred with Miro among Pollock's surrealist influences, but it will be noted that Michaux's automatic drawings were influenced by Chinese calligraphy.
Pollock was one of the most fertile triggers of modern art and his early success is linked to the American dream. The brutal deaths of James Dean, Jackson Pollock and Marilyn Monroe and the horrors of the Vietnam war will end this utopia in which the real gravedigger in art will be Warhol.
Arrived in New York in 1930 at the age of 18, he is attentive to all originalities. He attends a demonstration of the use of liquid paint by Siqueiros and sees Janet Sobel's open patterns covering the entire surface of the image without being altered at the frame.
During an exhibition at the MoMA in 1941, he attended a Navajo sand-picture show that reminded him of his childhood in Wyoming. Creation is a ritual where the original image disappears under the accumulation of layers.
This experience will give him the idea of placing his canvas or paper flat on the floor of his workshop for a better precision of his dissemination of colors. Executing his gestural dance around the work as it goes along, he realizes Malevich's old dream of a re-orientable image in all directions that also gives the illusion of spreading beyond its own limits.
While canceling the figurative, Malevich also wanted to highlight the material. Pollock manages a similar approach.
Treated for his alcoholism by a psychoanalyst close to Jung, he is convinced that the most important is the creative act, so that the artist is quite right to hide his original message when he completes the artwork.
Peggy Guggenheim opens her aptly named Art of this Century gallery in New York in 1942. She is keenly interested in the synthesis of disparate influences practiced by Pollock. He is indeed enough spontaneous and innovative to embody the power and action of the American dream. She sponsors him without being close to him.
In the big city, the artist cannot solve his social problems. His wife Lee Krasner got the brilliant intuition that life in the big city is not conducive to the artistic stimulus of this violent and misanthropic young man. She married him and moved with him at the end of 1945 to a barn with sea sight in Long Island.
Pollock improves his technique throughout 1946, and abandons his stylized figuration. Wanting to work on a hard surface, he uses the masonite. He begins to apply the pigment in impasto directly at the outlet of the tube and gradually gives up the brush. For convenience, he lays on the floor the surface to be painted.
The use of sprayed or flowing liquid paint is made possible by that position of the support. His hand acquires an unprecedented freedom. Pollock's art conveys his subconscious energy, just as Chinese calligraphy is a direct transcription of an artist's emotion. Masson is referred with Miro among Pollock's surrealist influences, but it will be noted that Michaux's automatic drawings were influenced by Chinese calligraphy.
Pollock was one of the most fertile triggers of modern art and his early success is linked to the American dream. The brutal deaths of James Dean, Jackson Pollock and Marilyn Monroe and the horrors of the Vietnam war will end this utopia in which the real gravedigger in art will be Warhol.
Jackson Pollock: Life and Mental Health Struggles
Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) was a pioneering American Abstract Expressionist painter, renowned for his revolutionary drip technique—pouring, splashing, and flinging paint onto large canvases laid on the floor. His life was marked by profound personal turmoil, including lifelong alcoholism, mood instability, and psychological distress, which intersected deeply with his artistic output.
Pollock's mental health issues emerged early. He experienced a troubled childhood with frequent family moves and feelings of neglect. By his teens, he was drinking heavily, and as an adult, he battled severe alcoholism, leading to violent outbursts, impulsivity, and social withdrawal. In 1937–1938, he sought psychiatric treatment for alcoholism, culminating in a four-month hospitalization in 1938 following a breakdown involving depression and agitation.
From 1939–1942, Pollock underwent Jungian psychoanalysis with therapists Joseph Henderson and Violet Staub de Laszlo. He was often nonverbal in sessions, so his therapists encouraged him to produce drawings as a form of free association. These "psychoanalytic drawings" (about 83 works) featured symbolic imagery influenced by Carl Jung's concepts, such as archetypes, the collective unconscious, mandalas, and anima/animus conflicts. They provided insight into his inner conflicts and marked a therapeutic breakthrough.
Modern psychiatric analyses, including posthumous reviews, strongly suggest Pollock met criteria for bipolar disorder. His treating psychiatrists noted alternating periods of "violent agitation" (mania/hypomania) and "paralysis or withdrawal" (depression). He experienced extreme mood swings: intense creative frenzies lasting days contrasted with deep depressive episodes where he was bedridden and unable to paint. Alcohol likely exacerbated these cycles, serving as self-medication but worsening depression. Some sources mention visual disturbances or hallucinations, potentially linked to mania or alcohol withdrawal.
Pollock's struggles intensified in the 1950s amid fame and pressure. His alcoholism deepened, leading to infidelity, isolation, and minimal output in his final years. He died at age 44 in 1956 in an alcohol-related car crash.Portrait photographs of Jackson Pollock, capturing his intense and troubled demeanor.
Psychiatric Interpretation of His Art
Pollock's work evolved from figurative influences (Picasso, Mexican muralists, Native American art) to pure abstraction, heavily shaped by his psychological experiences.
- Psychoanalytic Drawings (1939–1940): These directly emerged from therapy, filled with Jungian symbols (e.g., birds, moons, masks, totems) representing unconscious conflicts, individuation, and anima issues. They bridged his inner turmoil and artistic expression, helping him access the subconscious.
- Drip Paintings (1947–1950 peak): His signature "action paintings" (e.g., Number 1A, 1948; Autumn Rhythm) are often interpreted as manifestations of the unconscious. The physical act of painting—rhythmic, trance-like movement—was cathartic, allowing Pollock to bypass conscious control and channel raw emotion. Jungian theory influenced this: dripping evoked automatic writing or surrealist automatism, surfacing archetypes without deliberate planning.
Pollock's art and life exemplify the complex link between mental illness and creativity. His struggles fueled innovation but ultimately contributed to his tragic end. Therapy and Jungian ideas provided tools for expression, turning personal chaos into groundbreaking art that continues to evoke psychological depth.
Special Report
Lee Krasner
Lee Krasner (1908–1984) was a pioneering Abstract Expressionist painter whose own innovative career was long overshadowed by her marriage to Jackson Pollock. She emerges today as an equal partner in the movement, a ceaseless innovator, and a key figure who shaped both Pollock’s trajectory and the broader legacy of postwar American abstraction.
Early Career and Introduction of Modernist Ideas
Krasner was already an established presence in New York’s art scene by the 1930s and early 1940s, trained in the rigorous academic tradition at the National Academy of Design and later influenced by Cubism, Hans Hofmann’s teachings, and European modernism. She participated in the WPA Federal Art Project and was deeply engaged with the New York School circle, including Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.
In 1942, she encountered Pollock’s work in a group exhibition. Struck by its power, she became his advocate and introduced him to influential figures such as critic Clement Greenberg and dealer Peggy Guggenheim. Many accounts credit Krasner with helping Pollock connect to modernist abstraction and the New York avant-garde, providing intellectual and social scaffolding for his development. She also encouraged the neutral numerical titles for his paintings to let the work speak for itself without narrative baggage.
Mutual Artistic Influence with Pollock
Their 1945 marriage and move to Springs, East Hampton, created a productive, if intense, artistic dialogue. Krasner developed her celebrated Little Image series (late 1940s) in a bedroom studio while Pollock worked in the barn on his drip paintings. These small-to-medium works feature thick impasto, repetitive abstract symbols or hieroglyphs, and all-over compositions inspired in part by Piet Mondrian’s grids. They represent one of her major contributions to Abstract Expressionism—tightly controlled yet rhythmic fields that contrast with Pollock’s more expansive pours.
Scholars note bidirectional influence: Krasner’s earlier experiments with all-over composition and freer mark-making likely informed Pollock’s breakthrough drip technique (he sometimes worked looking down on the canvas in ways echoing her approach). In turn, Pollock’s physicality and scale encouraged Krasner to push boundaries, though she maintained a more cerebral, structured quality with roots in Cubism and nature motifs.
After Pollock’s death in a 1956 car accident, Krasner moved into his barn studio and produced large-scale, emotionally raw Umber Paintings (primarily brown/black/white palettes) during bouts of insomnia and grief. These slashing, gestural works convey intense psychological energy while retaining her distinctive touch—feathery yet forceful brushwork that “exorcises” Pollock’s ghost rather than merely imitating him. Later series explored bright color, rhythmic forms, and hard-edged elements drawn from nature or calligraphic influences (including Hebrew letters from her Jewish heritage).
She also innovated with collages in the 1950s, tearing up failed canvases or earlier works and reassembling them into dynamic compositions—recycling as a form of ruthless self-critique and reinvention.
Broader Legacy and Influence
Krasner’s ceaseless reinvention—shifting scales, palettes, and techniques while maintaining abstraction’s primacy—made her a model of artistic persistence. She connected early 20th-century European modernism to postwar American innovation and influenced second-generation Abstract Expressionists (e.g., Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler) through her emphasis on structure amid energy and her commitment to personal expression.
Her advocacy for Pollock was tireless: she promoted his work during his life and managed his estate afterward, helping secure his mythic status. In her will, she established the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, which has awarded tens of millions in grants to artists since 1985. The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs preserves their shared environment.
For decades, she was typecast as “Mrs. Jackson Pollock,” but major retrospectives (MoMA 1984 posthumously, Houston/MoMA 1983, Barbican 2019, and the upcoming 2026 Met exhibition Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous) have reframed her as an independent force. Critics now hail her as “the Mother Courage of Abstract Expressionism,” recognizing her role in defining abstraction’s possibilities—raw emotion, controlled gesture, and endless evolution.
Krasner’s example continues to inspire, especially women artists, for her refusal to be sidelined, her rigorous self-editing, and her belief that art must remain alive and uncompromising. In the context of the 1948 Pollock works (like Number 7, Number 1A, Number 5, and Number 19), Krasner’s contemporaneous Little Images and her supportive yet independent practice highlight the collaborative ecosystem that fueled Abstract Expressionism’s breakthroughs.
Recent exhibitions, including the 2026 Met show, place their works in direct dialogue, underscoring how their “two planets circling each other” dynamic enriched both oeuvres while allowing Krasner’s distinct voice—more structured, nature-inflected, and relentlessly inventive—to shine. Her work is held in major museums worldwide, with growing market recognition for its quality and historical importance.
Early Career and Introduction of Modernist Ideas
Krasner was already an established presence in New York’s art scene by the 1930s and early 1940s, trained in the rigorous academic tradition at the National Academy of Design and later influenced by Cubism, Hans Hofmann’s teachings, and European modernism. She participated in the WPA Federal Art Project and was deeply engaged with the New York School circle, including Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.
In 1942, she encountered Pollock’s work in a group exhibition. Struck by its power, she became his advocate and introduced him to influential figures such as critic Clement Greenberg and dealer Peggy Guggenheim. Many accounts credit Krasner with helping Pollock connect to modernist abstraction and the New York avant-garde, providing intellectual and social scaffolding for his development. She also encouraged the neutral numerical titles for his paintings to let the work speak for itself without narrative baggage.
Mutual Artistic Influence with Pollock
Their 1945 marriage and move to Springs, East Hampton, created a productive, if intense, artistic dialogue. Krasner developed her celebrated Little Image series (late 1940s) in a bedroom studio while Pollock worked in the barn on his drip paintings. These small-to-medium works feature thick impasto, repetitive abstract symbols or hieroglyphs, and all-over compositions inspired in part by Piet Mondrian’s grids. They represent one of her major contributions to Abstract Expressionism—tightly controlled yet rhythmic fields that contrast with Pollock’s more expansive pours.
Scholars note bidirectional influence: Krasner’s earlier experiments with all-over composition and freer mark-making likely informed Pollock’s breakthrough drip technique (he sometimes worked looking down on the canvas in ways echoing her approach). In turn, Pollock’s physicality and scale encouraged Krasner to push boundaries, though she maintained a more cerebral, structured quality with roots in Cubism and nature motifs.
After Pollock’s death in a 1956 car accident, Krasner moved into his barn studio and produced large-scale, emotionally raw Umber Paintings (primarily brown/black/white palettes) during bouts of insomnia and grief. These slashing, gestural works convey intense psychological energy while retaining her distinctive touch—feathery yet forceful brushwork that “exorcises” Pollock’s ghost rather than merely imitating him. Later series explored bright color, rhythmic forms, and hard-edged elements drawn from nature or calligraphic influences (including Hebrew letters from her Jewish heritage).
She also innovated with collages in the 1950s, tearing up failed canvases or earlier works and reassembling them into dynamic compositions—recycling as a form of ruthless self-critique and reinvention.
Broader Legacy and Influence
Krasner’s ceaseless reinvention—shifting scales, palettes, and techniques while maintaining abstraction’s primacy—made her a model of artistic persistence. She connected early 20th-century European modernism to postwar American innovation and influenced second-generation Abstract Expressionists (e.g., Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler) through her emphasis on structure amid energy and her commitment to personal expression.
Her advocacy for Pollock was tireless: she promoted his work during his life and managed his estate afterward, helping secure his mythic status. In her will, she established the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, which has awarded tens of millions in grants to artists since 1985. The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs preserves their shared environment.
For decades, she was typecast as “Mrs. Jackson Pollock,” but major retrospectives (MoMA 1984 posthumously, Houston/MoMA 1983, Barbican 2019, and the upcoming 2026 Met exhibition Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous) have reframed her as an independent force. Critics now hail her as “the Mother Courage of Abstract Expressionism,” recognizing her role in defining abstraction’s possibilities—raw emotion, controlled gesture, and endless evolution.
Krasner’s example continues to inspire, especially women artists, for her refusal to be sidelined, her rigorous self-editing, and her belief that art must remain alive and uncompromising. In the context of the 1948 Pollock works (like Number 7, Number 1A, Number 5, and Number 19), Krasner’s contemporaneous Little Images and her supportive yet independent practice highlight the collaborative ecosystem that fueled Abstract Expressionism’s breakthroughs.
Recent exhibitions, including the 2026 Met show, place their works in direct dialogue, underscoring how their “two planets circling each other” dynamic enriched both oeuvres while allowing Krasner’s distinct voice—more structured, nature-inflected, and relentlessly inventive—to shine. Her work is held in major museums worldwide, with growing market recognition for its quality and historical importance.
1946 The Blue Unconscious
2013 SOLD for $ 21M by Sotheby's
On May 14, 2013, Sotheby's sold at lot 27 for $ 21M a large canvas 213 x 142 cm, painted in 1946 at the beginning of the Long Island studio.
Titled The Blue Unconscious, this artwork is close to the style of Gorky and de Kooning, perhaps by accident because Pollock was not interested in the works and theories of the expressionists. A larger than life female nude occupies the right side of the image while the left side receives grimacing heads. The whole is voluntarily made poorly readable by patterns of colored lines. He will continue to draw such fantasies before feverishly and systematically hiding them by the dripping.
The very first work using dripping was painted at the end of 1946. The surface is bright red and the contributions are black and white. Named Free form, this 49 x 36 cm oil on canvas is kept at the MoMA.
The next step is the diversification of colors. An oil on masonite 48 x 60 cm dated 1946 is painted in bright yellow, bright blue and black by dripping and splashing on a background of the same red.
This Red composition was sold for $ 13M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 5. Its first owner was Peggy Guggenheim. It is de-accessioned by the Everson Art Museum in Syracuse NY to refocus their collection on the fight against racial and sexual inequalities.
Pollock's musicalist dances around large-scale works will come soon after.
Titled The Blue Unconscious, this artwork is close to the style of Gorky and de Kooning, perhaps by accident because Pollock was not interested in the works and theories of the expressionists. A larger than life female nude occupies the right side of the image while the left side receives grimacing heads. The whole is voluntarily made poorly readable by patterns of colored lines. He will continue to draw such fantasies before feverishly and systematically hiding them by the dripping.
The very first work using dripping was painted at the end of 1946. The surface is bright red and the contributions are black and white. Named Free form, this 49 x 36 cm oil on canvas is kept at the MoMA.
The next step is the diversification of colors. An oil on masonite 48 x 60 cm dated 1946 is painted in bright yellow, bright blue and black by dripping and splashing on a background of the same red.
This Red composition was sold for $ 13M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 5. Its first owner was Peggy Guggenheim. It is de-accessioned by the Everson Art Museum in Syracuse NY to refocus their collection on the fight against racial and sexual inequalities.
Pollock's musicalist dances around large-scale works will come soon after.
Special Report
Drip Technique
Jackson Pollock's drip technique (also called his "pouring" or "dripping" method) revolutionized modern art in the late 1940s and early 1950s, making him a central figure in Abstract Expressionism and earning him the nickname "Jack the Dripper" from Time magazine. Far from random chaos, it was a highly controlled, physical process that emphasized gesture, movement, and the properties of paint itself over traditional representation.
Development and Origins
Pollock began experimenting with pouring and dripping around 1947, after years of influence from Surrealist automatism, Picasso's fragmentation, Native American sand paintings, Mexican muralists, and possibly earlier artists like Janet Sobel (who used similar techniques in the mid-1940s). He fully embraced it in works like Full Fathom Five (1947) and hit his stride with masterpieces from 1948–1950.
He rejected easels and brushes for a more dynamic approach: unstretched canvas laid flat on the floor of his Long Island studio barn. This allowed him to walk around (and sometimes on) the work, approaching from all angles in what Harold Rosenberg later termed action painting.
The Process
Pollock used thinned commercial enamel house paint (cheaper and more fluid than artist's oils) in cans or buckets. Tools included sticks, stiffened brushes, trowels, or simply pouring straight from the can. He flicked, flung, poured, dripped, and splashed the paint, often layering colors over weeks or months—alternating intense sessions with contemplation.Key elements:
Technique in Action
Pollock's process was captured in famous footage by Hans Namuth (1950) and others, showing his energetic, performative style.
Impact and Legacy
The drip technique shifted art from object to process—emphasizing the artist's energy, subconscious, and physical presence. It influenced performance art, later abstract painters, and even contemporary fluid art techniques. Critics debated its chaos vs. control, but Pollock insisted: "It doesn't make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said."
His method remains one of the most radical innovations in 20th-century painting, embodying freedom, risk, and raw expression.
Development and Origins
Pollock began experimenting with pouring and dripping around 1947, after years of influence from Surrealist automatism, Picasso's fragmentation, Native American sand paintings, Mexican muralists, and possibly earlier artists like Janet Sobel (who used similar techniques in the mid-1940s). He fully embraced it in works like Full Fathom Five (1947) and hit his stride with masterpieces from 1948–1950.
He rejected easels and brushes for a more dynamic approach: unstretched canvas laid flat on the floor of his Long Island studio barn. This allowed him to walk around (and sometimes on) the work, approaching from all angles in what Harold Rosenberg later termed action painting.
The Process
Pollock used thinned commercial enamel house paint (cheaper and more fluid than artist's oils) in cans or buckets. Tools included sticks, stiffened brushes, trowels, or simply pouring straight from the can. He flicked, flung, poured, dripped, and splashed the paint, often layering colors over weeks or months—alternating intense sessions with contemplation.Key elements:
- Gravity and physics: Paint fell in continuous filaments (not just droplets) to avoid coiling instability—creating long, unbroken lines.
- Full-body gesture: He moved rhythmically like a dancer, using wrist, arm, and whole-body swings for velocity and control.
- Layering and all-over composition: No central focus; the entire surface was covered in intricate webs of line and color, with added texture from sand, glass, or cigarette butts sometimes embedded.
- Improvisation with intention: Pollock described it as channeling the unconscious, but he maintained precise control—avoiding pure accident.
Technique in Action
Pollock's process was captured in famous footage by Hans Namuth (1950) and others, showing his energetic, performative style.
Impact and Legacy
The drip technique shifted art from object to process—emphasizing the artist's energy, subconscious, and physical presence. It influenced performance art, later abstract painters, and even contemporary fluid art techniques. Critics debated its chaos vs. control, but Pollock insisted: "It doesn't make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said."
His method remains one of the most radical innovations in 20th-century painting, embodying freedom, risk, and raw expression.
masterpiece
1948 Number 1A
MoMA
Jackson Pollock’s Number 1A, 1948 (also known initially as Number 1, 1948) is one of the artist’s most iconic and historically significant drip paintings, permanently housed in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. It serves as an excellent benchmark for comparing with the Number 7, 1948 (the narrow horizontal canvas from the S.I. Newhouse collection heading to Christie’s in May 2026).
Shared Context (All 1948 Drip Paintings)
All three works woth an auction history (Number 5, 1948; Number 7, 1948; Number 19, 1948) and Number 1A, 1948 were created in Pollock’s breakthrough year in his East Hampton barn studio. He laid unstretched canvas on the floor and used his full-body “action painting” technique—pouring, dripping, and flinging commercial enamels and oils with sticks and brushes—to build dense, all-over compositions without a traditional focal point or hierarchy. Numerical titles emphasized pure painting over narrative. These works capture the raw energy, unconscious expression, and post-war vitality central to Abstract Expressionism.
Key Details of Number 1A, 1948
Comparison with Number 7, 1948 (Newhouse)
Both paintings come from the same intense 1948 creative burst and share the core drip technique, all-over composition, and use of fluid enamels for gestural energy. However, they differ in format, scale emphasis, and visual character:
All exemplify Pollock’s intention to let paint have “a life of its own” through physical process, influencing later movements from Color Field to performance art. Number 1A remains a public touchstone for understanding the series, while Number 7 represents a rare private-sale opportunity in 2026.
In-person viewing highlights how light interacts with the layered surfaces—something photographs only approximate.
Shared Context (All 1948 Drip Paintings)
All three works woth an auction history (Number 5, 1948; Number 7, 1948; Number 19, 1948) and Number 1A, 1948 were created in Pollock’s breakthrough year in his East Hampton barn studio. He laid unstretched canvas on the floor and used his full-body “action painting” technique—pouring, dripping, and flinging commercial enamels and oils with sticks and brushes—to build dense, all-over compositions without a traditional focal point or hierarchy. Numerical titles emphasized pure painting over narrative. These works capture the raw energy, unconscious expression, and post-war vitality central to Abstract Expressionism.
Key Details of Number 1A, 1948
- Dimensions: 68 × 8' 8" (172.7 × 264.2 cm) — a large, relatively wide rectangular format (roughly 5'8" high by nearly 9' wide).
- Medium: Oil and enamel paint on unprimed canvas.
- Key Features: A dense lattice of looping black and white lines, splatters, and skeins over a light beige/cream ground, with accents of brown, silver/aluminum, and small bursts of primary colors (including vivid blue identified as manganese blue, yellow, and red). It features layered pools, globs, and drips that create depth and rhythm. Distinctive personal marks include several handprints (some visible at the upper right; others partially obscured under layers, in black, purple, or brick red). The composition balances chaotic energy with underlying structure, showing successive passages of color application.
- Provenance & History: First exhibited in 1949 at Betty Parsons Gallery (initially unsold). Pollock added “A” to distinguish it from later works. MoMA purchased it in 1950 — the first drip painting to enter a major museum collection. It has remained there since, undergoing conservation (including after a 1958 fire incident). Recent scientific study (2025) confirmed the mystery blue pigment as manganese blue.
Comparison with Number 7, 1948 (Newhouse)
Both paintings come from the same intense 1948 creative burst and share the core drip technique, all-over composition, and use of fluid enamels for gestural energy. However, they differ in format, scale emphasis, and visual character:
- Format and Scale: Number 1A is large and wide (nearly 9 feet across), creating a commanding, wall-filling presence that invites viewers to take in the entire field at once. Number 7 is described as a narrow horizontal canvas, suggesting a more elongated, contained proportion that emphasizes lateral flow and rhythmic containment rather than broad expanse.
- Palette and Mood: Number 1A features a relatively restrained yet vibrant palette—dominant black/white lines with earthy tones, silver, and selective color bursts (including the notable manganese blue). It feels layered and luminous with depth from overlapping passages. Number 7 details are still preliminary (full catalogue pending), but 1948 horizontals often lean into dense, interwoven skeins with silvery or metallic effects; its narrow format may heighten a sense of compressed energy or horizontal momentum.
- Personal Marks: Number 1A stands out for its prominent handprints, adding a direct, bodily autograph amid the abstraction. Number 7 lacks specific mention of such marks in current announcements, focusing instead on pure poured energy.
- Artistic Role: Number 1A is frequently cited as a quintessential example of the 1948 breakthrough—bridging earlier techniques and fully realized drip works. It was an early institutional validation of the style. Number 7 is positioned as a museum-quality trophy with comparable stature, but its horizontal/narrow format offers a distinct rhythmic variation within the same series.
- Market & Availability: Number 1A is not for sale (institutional). Number 7 could challenge high-end Pollock values at auction with its ~$100 million estimate and Newhouse provenance.
- vs. Number 5, 1948 (privately sold for $140M in 2006): Number 5 is large (~8 × 4 ft, more vertical emphasis in some descriptions) and explosively multicolored (heavy black with vibrant yellow, silver, red, white). It has a nest-like, chaotic web with greater color intensity. Number 1A is wider and more restrained in its color accents, prioritizing black/white structure with selective pops. Both are ambitious large-scale statements; Number 5 feels more “explosive,” while Number 1A emphasizes interwoven depth.
- vs. Number 19, 1948 (Christie’s 2013, $58.36M): Number 19 is intimate/smaller (~31 × 23 in., on paper mounted on canvas) with a shimmering silvery-black monochromatic scheme and high-contrast graphic energy. Number 1A scales this intensity up dramatically in size and adds color complexity and handprints.
All exemplify Pollock’s intention to let paint have “a life of its own” through physical process, influencing later movements from Color Field to performance art. Number 1A remains a public touchstone for understanding the series, while Number 7 represents a rare private-sale opportunity in 2026.
In-person viewing highlights how light interacts with the layered surfaces—something photographs only approximate.
1948 Number 7
2026 for sale on May 18 by Christie's
Christie's anchors its May sales with a significant group of museum-quality works from the S.I. Newhouse collection. Key highlighted pieces include : Jackson Pollock, Number 7 (1948) — A major drip painting, estimated in the region of $100 million. Sale on May 18, 2026, lot 8A. The video is shared by the auction house.
Key details about Number 7 : intention, inspiration, breakthrough, key features, legacy, auction history if any, comparison with Number 5, 1948 (reached $ 140M in a private sale in 2006) and with Number 19, 1948 (sold by Christie's on May 15, 2013). Establish the chronology of the three.
Jackson Pollock’s Number 7 (1948) is a major drip painting from the artist’s breakthrough year, heading to Christie’s May 2026 evening sale as part of the S.I. Newhouse collection with an estimate in the region of $100 million. Newhouse acquired this narrow horizontal canvas privately in 2000 from A. Alfred Taubman (then-owner of Sotheby’s).
Intention and Inspiration
Pollock sought to express the unconscious and the energy of the American post-war psyche through “action painting.” He abandoned traditional easel work, laying unstretched canvases on the floor of his barn studio in Springs, East Hampton. Working from all sides, he poured, dripped, and flung commercial enamels and oils using sticks, trowels, or brushes, allowing his full-body gestures to dictate the composition. Lee Krasner later explained that numerical titles (adopted around this time) were deliberately neutral: “Numbers are neutral. They make people look at a painting for what it is—pure painting.” This removed narrative expectations and emphasized the work as an autonomous record of process and energy.
Inspiration drew from Surrealist automatism, Native American sand painting, and Mexican muralists, combined with Jungian ideas of the collective unconscious. By 1948, Pollock had fully internalized these influences into a personal language of all-over composition.
Breakthrough and Key Features
1948 marked Pollock’s full maturation of the drip technique (pioneered in 1947). Number 7 exemplifies the dense, rhythmic layering of lines, skeins, and splatters that create an all-over field with no traditional focal point or hierarchy. It features complex interweaving of black, white, and other colors (often with silvery or metallic effects in related works), building depth through successive layers of poured paint that pool, drip, and overlap. The narrow horizontal format enhances a sense of expansive energy contained within bounds, with dynamic movement suggesting controlled chaos. Some 1948 works subtly reintroduce bodily references or figurative hints amid abstraction.
The technique captured the “life of its own” that Pollock described: paint’s fluidity interacted with gravity and his movements, producing fractal-like complexity and rhythmic order beneath apparent randomness.
Legacy
Number 7 belongs to the core group of 1948–1950 drip paintings that redefined modern painting. They shifted emphasis from representation to process, influencing generations of artists (from Color Field to performance and installation art) and establishing Abstract Expressionism as America’s first major international movement. These works embody post-war freedom, anxiety, and vitality, with Pollock’s method prefiguring performance art and even elements of minimalism through its emphasis on the canvas as an arena of action.
Auction and Ownership History
This specific Number 7 (1948) has no recent public auction history; it has been in the Newhouse collection since 2000. Its ~$100 million estimate would significantly exceed Pollock’s current public auction record of $61.2 million (Number 17, 1951, 2021) and position it among the highest-priced paintings ever if achieved.
Comparison with Number 5, 1948 and Number 19, 1948
All three were painted in 1948, Pollock’s annus mirabilis for drip innovation. They share the same core technique—floor-based pouring of fluid enamels and oils to create all-over, gestural abstraction—but differ markedly in scale, palette, format, and market trajectory.
Key details about Number 7 : intention, inspiration, breakthrough, key features, legacy, auction history if any, comparison with Number 5, 1948 (reached $ 140M in a private sale in 2006) and with Number 19, 1948 (sold by Christie's on May 15, 2013). Establish the chronology of the three.
Jackson Pollock’s Number 7 (1948) is a major drip painting from the artist’s breakthrough year, heading to Christie’s May 2026 evening sale as part of the S.I. Newhouse collection with an estimate in the region of $100 million. Newhouse acquired this narrow horizontal canvas privately in 2000 from A. Alfred Taubman (then-owner of Sotheby’s).
Intention and Inspiration
Pollock sought to express the unconscious and the energy of the American post-war psyche through “action painting.” He abandoned traditional easel work, laying unstretched canvases on the floor of his barn studio in Springs, East Hampton. Working from all sides, he poured, dripped, and flung commercial enamels and oils using sticks, trowels, or brushes, allowing his full-body gestures to dictate the composition. Lee Krasner later explained that numerical titles (adopted around this time) were deliberately neutral: “Numbers are neutral. They make people look at a painting for what it is—pure painting.” This removed narrative expectations and emphasized the work as an autonomous record of process and energy.
Inspiration drew from Surrealist automatism, Native American sand painting, and Mexican muralists, combined with Jungian ideas of the collective unconscious. By 1948, Pollock had fully internalized these influences into a personal language of all-over composition.
Breakthrough and Key Features
1948 marked Pollock’s full maturation of the drip technique (pioneered in 1947). Number 7 exemplifies the dense, rhythmic layering of lines, skeins, and splatters that create an all-over field with no traditional focal point or hierarchy. It features complex interweaving of black, white, and other colors (often with silvery or metallic effects in related works), building depth through successive layers of poured paint that pool, drip, and overlap. The narrow horizontal format enhances a sense of expansive energy contained within bounds, with dynamic movement suggesting controlled chaos. Some 1948 works subtly reintroduce bodily references or figurative hints amid abstraction.
The technique captured the “life of its own” that Pollock described: paint’s fluidity interacted with gravity and his movements, producing fractal-like complexity and rhythmic order beneath apparent randomness.
Legacy
Number 7 belongs to the core group of 1948–1950 drip paintings that redefined modern painting. They shifted emphasis from representation to process, influencing generations of artists (from Color Field to performance and installation art) and establishing Abstract Expressionism as America’s first major international movement. These works embody post-war freedom, anxiety, and vitality, with Pollock’s method prefiguring performance art and even elements of minimalism through its emphasis on the canvas as an arena of action.
Auction and Ownership History
This specific Number 7 (1948) has no recent public auction history; it has been in the Newhouse collection since 2000. Its ~$100 million estimate would significantly exceed Pollock’s current public auction record of $61.2 million (Number 17, 1951, 2021) and position it among the highest-priced paintings ever if achieved.
Comparison with Number 5, 1948 and Number 19, 1948
All three were painted in 1948, Pollock’s annus mirabilis for drip innovation. They share the same core technique—floor-based pouring of fluid enamels and oils to create all-over, gestural abstraction—but differ markedly in scale, palette, format, and market trajectory.
- Chronology: All three date to 1948. Pollock produced dozens of numbered works that year, exhibited at Betty Parsons Gallery in 1949 (where many received their numerical titles). No precise month-by-month order is documented for these specific pieces, but they belong to the same intense burst of creativity in his East Hampton studio. Number 5 and Number 7 (or related horizontal canvases) were part of Newhouse’s holdings at different times; he once owned Number 5 (vertical, ~8 × 4 ft) before selling it to David Geffen in 1991 and later acquiring the horizontal Number 7 (or 7A) in 2000.
- Number 5, 1948: Large-scale (approximately 8 × 4 ft / 243 × 122 cm), vibrant with layered colors (black dominant with yellow, silver, red, and white accents) forming a complex, nest-like web. It has a more explosive, multicolored energy. Owned by Newhouse, then Geffen; sold privately in 2006 for $140 million (then the highest price ever for any artwork; buyer rumors included Mexican financier David Martínez, though disputed). It remains the benchmark for Pollock’s private-sale value.
- Number 7, 1948 (Newhouse lot): Described as a “narrow horizontal canvas,” implying an elongated format that emphasizes lateral flow and containment. Details on exact dimensions and palette are limited in preliminary announcements, but it is positioned as a museum-quality masterpiece with comparable stature to other top 1948 drips. Its $100 million estimate reflects rarity, provenance, and the ultra-blue-chip demand for prime 1948 works.
- Number 19, 1948: Smaller scale (30 7/8 × 22 5/8 in. / ~78 × 57 cm), oil and enamel on paper mounted on canvas. It features a shimmering, silvery monochromatic scheme with black drips and accents (some red), creating a more intimate yet intense all-over field. Praised by critic Clement Greenberg as one of Pollock’s finest achievements at the time. Sold at Christie’s New York on May 15, 2013 (from the collection of Mitchell Rales/Glenstone) for $58,363,750 (hammer $52 million; est. $25–35 million), setting a then-auction record for the artist and anchoring a blockbuster sale.
- Scale & Format: Number 5 is large and commanding; Number 19 is intimate; Number 7 is narrow/horizontal, offering a different rhythmic emphasis.
- Palette & Mood: Number 5 is multicolored and explosive; Number 19 is silvery and graphic; Number 7 aligns with the dense, layered 1948 aesthetic.
- Market: Number 5 holds the private-sale pinnacle ($140M); Number 19 led a major auction ($58M+); Number 7 could challenge both in May 2026 due to its Newhouse provenance and trophy status.
- Artistic Weight: All three are quintessential examples of the 1948 breakthrough, but Number 5 is often cited for its sheer ambition and Number 19 for critical acclaim at the time.
1948 Number 19
2013 SOLD for $ 58M by Christie's
In 1946 Lee Krasner pushes Jackson Pollock to a secluded barn on Long Island. Thus freed from the bustle of the big city, Pollock has the luck to live his artistic Passion, in the strongest meaning of that word.
He did not consider himself as an abstract artist. In the first months after his arrival in Long Island, he developed two series of paintings titled 'Sounds in the grass' and 'Accabonac Creek', reflecting his desire to commune with the earth for expressing its richness.
Pollock improves his technique throughout 1946, and abandons his stylized figuration. Wanting to work on a hard surface, he uses the masonite. He begins to apply the pigment in impasto directly at the outlet of the tube and gradually gives up the brush. For convenience, he lays directly on the floor the surface to be painted instead of using an easel.
The use of sprayed or flowing liquid paint is made possible by that position of the support. His hand acquires an unprecedented freedom. Pollock's art conveys his subconscious energy, just as Chinese calligraphy is a direct transcription of an artist's emotion. Masson is referred with Miro among Pollock's surrealist influences, but it will be noted that Michaux's automatic drawings were influenced by Chinese calligraphy.
The very first work using dripping was painted at the end of 1946. The surface is bright red and the contributions are black and white. Named Free form, this 49 x 36 cm oil on canvas is kept at the MoMA. There is no horizon and no framing even when the work is small, and there is also no longer a figuration.
The next step is the diversification of colors. The lines of pure colors of various widths form infinite and meticulous tangles. The regularity of the final mesh is spectacular without being total, so that certain areas are breathing or vibrating such as an organic matter. Richter's squeegee will generate similar effects.
An oil on masonite 48 x 60 cm dated 1946 is painted in bright yellow, bright blue and black by dripping and splashing on a background of the same red. It was sold for $ 13M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 5. Its first owner had been Peggy Guggenheim. It was de-accessioned by the Everson Art Museum in Syracuse NY to refocus their collection on the fight against racial and sexual inequalities.
Pollock's musicalist dances around large-scale works came soon after.
The works on paper prepared with a white primer are promising and the small formats make it more possible to obtain in a lesser time a full covering of the surface with the desirable entangled lines of high density.
In 1948, Pollock stops giving titles to his works, now designated by numbers. One of his largest boards, Number 5, 1948, 2.4 x 1.2 m, reached $ 140M in a private sale in 2006.
On May 15, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 58M from a lower estimate of $ 25M Number 19, 1948. This oil and enamel on paper mounted on canvas is small, 78 x 57 cm, but the fineness of the pours and drips is superb. Please watch the video prepared by Christie's.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 16, 2013
Jackson Pollock's Number 19, 1948 realized $58,363,750, a #worldauctionrecord for the artist
He did not consider himself as an abstract artist. In the first months after his arrival in Long Island, he developed two series of paintings titled 'Sounds in the grass' and 'Accabonac Creek', reflecting his desire to commune with the earth for expressing its richness.
Pollock improves his technique throughout 1946, and abandons his stylized figuration. Wanting to work on a hard surface, he uses the masonite. He begins to apply the pigment in impasto directly at the outlet of the tube and gradually gives up the brush. For convenience, he lays directly on the floor the surface to be painted instead of using an easel.
The use of sprayed or flowing liquid paint is made possible by that position of the support. His hand acquires an unprecedented freedom. Pollock's art conveys his subconscious energy, just as Chinese calligraphy is a direct transcription of an artist's emotion. Masson is referred with Miro among Pollock's surrealist influences, but it will be noted that Michaux's automatic drawings were influenced by Chinese calligraphy.
The very first work using dripping was painted at the end of 1946. The surface is bright red and the contributions are black and white. Named Free form, this 49 x 36 cm oil on canvas is kept at the MoMA. There is no horizon and no framing even when the work is small, and there is also no longer a figuration.
The next step is the diversification of colors. The lines of pure colors of various widths form infinite and meticulous tangles. The regularity of the final mesh is spectacular without being total, so that certain areas are breathing or vibrating such as an organic matter. Richter's squeegee will generate similar effects.
An oil on masonite 48 x 60 cm dated 1946 is painted in bright yellow, bright blue and black by dripping and splashing on a background of the same red. It was sold for $ 13M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 5. Its first owner had been Peggy Guggenheim. It was de-accessioned by the Everson Art Museum in Syracuse NY to refocus their collection on the fight against racial and sexual inequalities.
Pollock's musicalist dances around large-scale works came soon after.
The works on paper prepared with a white primer are promising and the small formats make it more possible to obtain in a lesser time a full covering of the surface with the desirable entangled lines of high density.
In 1948, Pollock stops giving titles to his works, now designated by numbers. One of his largest boards, Number 5, 1948, 2.4 x 1.2 m, reached $ 140M in a private sale in 2006.
On May 15, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 58M from a lower estimate of $ 25M Number 19, 1948. This oil and enamel on paper mounted on canvas is small, 78 x 57 cm, but the fineness of the pours and drips is superb. Please watch the video prepared by Christie's.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 16, 2013
Jackson Pollock's Number 19, 1948 realized $58,363,750, a #worldauctionrecord for the artist
- Christie's 2013 post celebrates the $58.4 million sale of Jackson Pollock's "Number 19, 1948," an abstract drip painting that set a then-record for the artist, surpassing its $35 million high estimate amid four bidders.
- This sale anchored Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction, totaling $495 million—the highest auction sum at the time—highlighting booming demand for mid-20th-century American abstraction.
- Created during Pollock's peak drip period, the enamel-and-oil work on paper mounted on canvas exemplifies his innovative action painting technique, influencing modern art movements like Abstract Expressionism.
1949 Oil and Enamel on Paper on Masonite
Intro
1949 was the pinnacle in the life of Jackson Pollock. His unprecedented method of painting with dripping, which he invented two years earlier, is operational. His wife Lee Krasner and the gallery owner Betty Parsons manage his career, sparing him those social relationships in which he is so uncomfortable. From the end of 1948 until November 1950, he did not drink alcohol.
With these favorable circumstances, Jack can devote himself to his art, which he has always understood as the expression of his subconscious. The laudatory comments from some art critics don't surprise him : he tells Lee that there is no other example of creativity in their country except for the Bebop by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.
He has detractors, who consider that his creative gesture is random and therefore meaningless. Motivated by this opposition, he is preparing a series of paintings which will be exhibited together at the end of the year by Betty Parsons to demonstrate the diversity of his pictorial effects in a unique format.
He chooses oil and enamel on paper, which does not alter the colors of the pigments, adding on some works a phosphorescence effect with aluminum paint. The paper format, 78 x 57 cm, is not comparable to the gigantic canvases of the previous year, but it has an operational advantage : the jerky movement of the wrist is sufficient to perform a dripping of great precision without resorting to a gesticulatory dance all around the work.
This set of 16 works mounted on masonite is exhibited in November 1949 by Betty Parsons alongside unsold items from the previous show.
With these favorable circumstances, Jack can devote himself to his art, which he has always understood as the expression of his subconscious. The laudatory comments from some art critics don't surprise him : he tells Lee that there is no other example of creativity in their country except for the Bebop by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.
He has detractors, who consider that his creative gesture is random and therefore meaningless. Motivated by this opposition, he is preparing a series of paintings which will be exhibited together at the end of the year by Betty Parsons to demonstrate the diversity of his pictorial effects in a unique format.
He chooses oil and enamel on paper, which does not alter the colors of the pigments, adding on some works a phosphorescence effect with aluminum paint. The paper format, 78 x 57 cm, is not comparable to the gigantic canvases of the previous year, but it has an operational advantage : the jerky movement of the wrist is sufficient to perform a dripping of great precision without resorting to a gesticulatory dance all around the work.
This set of 16 works mounted on masonite is exhibited in November 1949 by Betty Parsons alongside unsold items from the previous show.
1
Number 31
2022 SOLD for $ 54M by Christie's
The Number 31 of 1949, oil, enamel, aluminum paint and gesso on paper mounted on Masonite
79 x 57 cm painted in 1949, was sold for $ 54M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 21C. It is in a great original condition with fresh colors.
The abstract swirls and stains densely occupy the whole surface of the paper in a vibrant arrangement of colors. It is one of the eight examples in that series which used drips of aluminum paint to increase the brightness. Brilliant red, emerald green, turquoise, yellow and orange offer a rainbow spectrum effect.
This piece demonstrating the full maturity of Pollock's dripping process was included in the second solo show at Betty Parsons Gallery in November and December 1949.
Grok thought :
Quote
FAD Magazine @worldofFAD May 3, 2022
$45 million+ Jackson Pollock masterpiece to lead Christie’s 20th Century evening sale https://buff.ly/3OHYTCO @ChristiesInc #auction #jacksonpollock
79 x 57 cm painted in 1949, was sold for $ 54M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 21C. It is in a great original condition with fresh colors.
The abstract swirls and stains densely occupy the whole surface of the paper in a vibrant arrangement of colors. It is one of the eight examples in that series which used drips of aluminum paint to increase the brightness. Brilliant red, emerald green, turquoise, yellow and orange offer a rainbow spectrum effect.
This piece demonstrating the full maturity of Pollock's dripping process was included in the second solo show at Betty Parsons Gallery in November and December 1949.
Grok thought :
Quote
FAD Magazine @worldofFAD May 3, 2022
$45 million+ Jackson Pollock masterpiece to lead Christie’s 20th Century evening sale https://buff.ly/3OHYTCO @ChristiesInc #auction #jacksonpollock
- Painting Details: Jackson Pollock's Number 31 (1949) is a compact drip technique work on paper mounted on Masonite, using oil, enamel, and aluminum paint for its vibrant, metallic layers; created at the height of his fame, it was praised by critics upon debut and featured in MoMA retrospectives.
- Auction Outcome: Estimated at over $45 million for Christie's May 12, 2022, 20th Century Evening Sale, the piece sold for $54.2 million, reinforcing Pollock's status as a top Abstract Expressionist with consistent high-value sales.
- Market Insight: As one of only eight metallic drip paintings from 1949, Number 31 exemplifies the New York School's rise, with its sale reflecting sustained demand for Pollock's innovative techniques amid a competitive postwar art market.
2
Number 32
2018 SOLD for $ 34M by Sotheby's
Number 32, 1949 is one of the 8 examples that used aluminum.
In a nice freshness thanks to a parsimonious use in exhibitions, this oil, enamel, and aluminum paint on paper mounted on Masonite was sold for $ 34M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018, lot 14. Please watch the short video and the full video shared by the auction house.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Apr 23, 2018
Dive into Jackson #Pollock's 'Number 32, 1949', one of 16 drip paintings created on paper mounted on Masonite or canvas in 1949. #SothebysContemporary Art Evening Auction takes place 16 May; exhibitions open 4 May. #FearlessNow
In a nice freshness thanks to a parsimonious use in exhibitions, this oil, enamel, and aluminum paint on paper mounted on Masonite was sold for $ 34M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018, lot 14. Please watch the short video and the full video shared by the auction house.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Apr 23, 2018
Dive into Jackson #Pollock's 'Number 32, 1949', one of 16 drip paintings created on paper mounted on Masonite or canvas in 1949. #SothebysContemporary Art Evening Auction takes place 16 May; exhibitions open 4 May. #FearlessNow
- This 2018 Sotheby's post promotes Jackson Pollock's "Number 32, 1949," a rare drip painting on paper mounted on Masonite from his prolific 1949 series, inviting viewers to explore its abstract energy ahead of a May auction.
- The attached video immerses audiences in the artwork's layered drips and aluminum paint shimmer, framing it as a post-war masterpiece that redefined modern painting techniques.
- Auctioned on May 16, 2018, the piece fetched $34.1 million—surpassing its $30–40 million estimate—affirming Pollock's enduring value, with only 16 similar works from that year known to exist.
3
Number 16
2013 SOLD for $ 32.6M by Christie's
The numbers 12, 16 and 17 appear as nets entangling the black and colored lines over an ocher background. This centered pattern which hardly reaches the edge of the image gives up the effect of infinite field, which was therefore not essential in Pollock's creativity, while maintaining the total absence of a third dimension.
Number 16 was sold for $ 32.6M by Christie's on November 12, 2013, lot 39.
Number 16 was sold for $ 32.6M by Christie's on November 12, 2013, lot 39.
4
Number 17
2015 SOLD for $ 23M by Sotheby's
Number 17, 57 x 72 cm, was sold for $ 23M by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015, lot 9.
De-accessed from MoMA, Number 12 was sold for $ 11.7M by Christie's on May 11, 2004, lot 17.
De-accessed from MoMA, Number 12 was sold for $ 11.7M by Christie's on May 11, 2004, lot 17.
masterpiece
1950 One: Number 31
MoMA
1950
Composition with Red Strokes
2018 SOLD for $ 55M by Christie's
The non-figurative paintings by Jackson Pollock are neither mystical nor pantheistic. They express his deep personality as no artist had done before him.
The artistic training of this Wyoming boy had not been conventional. He admires the influence of the tribal arts on Picasso and the revolutionary message of the Mexican muralists, and especially he gets rid of the usual practices of the painters.
By neglecting the limits of his canvas or paper support, he offers infinity whatever the size of the artwork, as Mondrian had done. By putting his canvas or paper directly on the floor, he can dance around it like an Indian. In this gesture where the paint flows from the pot shaken by the hand, he creates networks of colors that he modifies at will, which would be impossible on a wall or an easel.
The surrealists wanted to express their dreams. Pollock does the opposite : he controls his subconscious. His colors are so entangled that no detail is preponderant. They do not constitute a cerebral image but the product of his three-dimensional dance. A little later Kazuo Shiraga will also involve his own body in his artistic creation.
Pollock is a perfectionist but he works quickly and his output is abundant. His best years begin in 1948 when he can devote himself entirely to his art with the effective support of his wife Lee Krasner in their Long Island barn studio isolated from the harmful temptations of the big city.
On November 13, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 55M a painting in oil, enamel and aluminum 93 x 65 cm, lot 17 B. Dated 1950 by the artist but not numbered, it has no exhibition history in his lifetime and is identified by the descriptive title Composition with Red Strokes.
The artistic training of this Wyoming boy had not been conventional. He admires the influence of the tribal arts on Picasso and the revolutionary message of the Mexican muralists, and especially he gets rid of the usual practices of the painters.
By neglecting the limits of his canvas or paper support, he offers infinity whatever the size of the artwork, as Mondrian had done. By putting his canvas or paper directly on the floor, he can dance around it like an Indian. In this gesture where the paint flows from the pot shaken by the hand, he creates networks of colors that he modifies at will, which would be impossible on a wall or an easel.
The surrealists wanted to express their dreams. Pollock does the opposite : he controls his subconscious. His colors are so entangled that no detail is preponderant. They do not constitute a cerebral image but the product of his three-dimensional dance. A little later Kazuo Shiraga will also involve his own body in his artistic creation.
Pollock is a perfectionist but he works quickly and his output is abundant. His best years begin in 1948 when he can devote himself entirely to his art with the effective support of his wife Lee Krasner in their Long Island barn studio isolated from the harmful temptations of the big city.
On November 13, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 55M a painting in oil, enamel and aluminum 93 x 65 cm, lot 17 B. Dated 1950 by the artist but not numbered, it has no exhibition history in his lifetime and is identified by the descriptive title Composition with Red Strokes.
1951 Number 4
2012 SOLD for $ 40M by Sotheby's
Number 4, 1951 is a great demonstrator of the most brilliant works by Jackson Pollock, with a variety of exciting colors that is not frequently the most visible feature for this artist .
Three techniques are brought together to create harmony within this small canvas, 77 x 64 cm, impregnated with aluminum paint.
Created by dripping, fine lines of different colors are seeking to exchange a message defaced by their complexity, in the tradition of the automatic writing of Dada. Five very shiny and pure colors, red, blue, yellow, green and ochre, compete to dominate that field without worrying about the lines. Black enamel spots are trying to maintain some balance in this fight.
Pollock has developed an entirely new technique of creation by which the progressing work guides the artist in a lengthy process which is achieved when the artist can not imagine a further improvement of harmony.
Directly by the disclosure of his act, indirectly by the obtained result, the work of Pollock had a considerable influence on the art of the second half of the twentieth century. The further step in the Abstraktes Bild by Richter will be to no longer need that first drawing which Pollock and Klein were hiding or blurring.
As we know, the frenzy of Pollock ruined his health. The first owner of Number 4, 1951, was the psychoanalyst who was trying to help him against alcoholism.
Number 4 was sold for $ 40M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 10.
Three techniques are brought together to create harmony within this small canvas, 77 x 64 cm, impregnated with aluminum paint.
Created by dripping, fine lines of different colors are seeking to exchange a message defaced by their complexity, in the tradition of the automatic writing of Dada. Five very shiny and pure colors, red, blue, yellow, green and ochre, compete to dominate that field without worrying about the lines. Black enamel spots are trying to maintain some balance in this fight.
Pollock has developed an entirely new technique of creation by which the progressing work guides the artist in a lengthy process which is achieved when the artist can not imagine a further improvement of harmony.
Directly by the disclosure of his act, indirectly by the obtained result, the work of Pollock had a considerable influence on the art of the second half of the twentieth century. The further step in the Abstraktes Bild by Richter will be to no longer need that first drawing which Pollock and Klein were hiding or blurring.
As we know, the frenzy of Pollock ruined his health. The first owner of Number 4, 1951, was the psychoanalyst who was trying to help him against alcoholism.
Number 4 was sold for $ 40M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 10.
1951 Number 28
2012 SOLD for $ 23M by Christie's
Jackson Pollock was totally immersed in his art. The canvas stretched on the ground becomes his universe. He endlessly covers it with the streams of his paints, matted and spread by mechanical gestures that ultimately escape his own conscience.
Like all great artists, he wants to express his view of the world. His work is figurative, but the layers go to make it unreadable. Curiously, Klein will have a similar approach with his blue monochromes a few years later. Only the author can preserve the memory of this vanishing figuration.
After various experiments, the artist returned to his 1948 style at the fall of 1951. His now thicker materials,deposited with syringes, become flesh.
Number 28, 1951, painted on a large canvas 77 x 137 cm, in black and gray with white, red and yellow lines, was sold for $ 23M by Christie's on May 8, 2012, lot 22.
Like all great artists, he wants to express his view of the world. His work is figurative, but the layers go to make it unreadable. Curiously, Klein will have a similar approach with his blue monochromes a few years later. Only the author can preserve the memory of this vanishing figuration.
After various experiments, the artist returned to his 1948 style at the fall of 1951. His now thicker materials,deposited with syringes, become flesh.
Number 28, 1951, painted on a large canvas 77 x 137 cm, in black and gray with white, red and yellow lines, was sold for $ 23M by Christie's on May 8, 2012, lot 22.
1951 Black and White Painting
2021 SOLD for $ 61M by Sotheby's
The signature style of Jackson Pollock was to express the rhythmic motion of his body while he poured paint on the floor. The successive use of many colors on a same support led to an impression that he expressed the rich soil of Long Island, just as Monet had done in Giverny.
This achievement must nevertheless consider that one of his basic inspirations had been the marks left in the sand by the dance of the Navajo Indians.
He was right in considering that his creativity owed as much to the dance than to colors. In 1951 he starts a series of monochrome paintings by pouring a saturated deep black liquid paint on the canvas again laid across the floor.
As a consequence the mingling of the colors was superseded by patterns of curves, dots and smears which could lead him back to the weird automatic figuration of his beginnings.
A typical example is the opus Number 5 of 1951, black oil paint 147 x 141 cm, sold for $ 11.4M by Christie's on May 13, 2014, lot 30, titled Elegant Lady by his gallerist.
Black and White Painting III, enamel on canvas 140 x 125 cm also painted in 1951, features a human form with stretched arms and is tentatively interpreted as a crucifixion. It was sold for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015, lot 38.
The opus 17 of the same year did not reach such an enigmatic figuration, remaining a pure expression of Pollock's wrist mingling thick intense lines and angel's hair. This black enamel on canvas 150 x 150 cm was sold for $ 61M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 11.
Despite the commercial failure of a first exhibition, Pollock persevered up to a total of 33 black paintings. Were they indeed more than a refined form of Rorschach blots ?
Grok thought :
Quote :
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: An incredible example of Jackson Pollock’s ‘Black Paintings’, ‘Number 17, 1951’ fetches $61M - a new auction record for the artist.
This achievement must nevertheless consider that one of his basic inspirations had been the marks left in the sand by the dance of the Navajo Indians.
He was right in considering that his creativity owed as much to the dance than to colors. In 1951 he starts a series of monochrome paintings by pouring a saturated deep black liquid paint on the canvas again laid across the floor.
As a consequence the mingling of the colors was superseded by patterns of curves, dots and smears which could lead him back to the weird automatic figuration of his beginnings.
A typical example is the opus Number 5 of 1951, black oil paint 147 x 141 cm, sold for $ 11.4M by Christie's on May 13, 2014, lot 30, titled Elegant Lady by his gallerist.
Black and White Painting III, enamel on canvas 140 x 125 cm also painted in 1951, features a human form with stretched arms and is tentatively interpreted as a crucifixion. It was sold for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015, lot 38.
The opus 17 of the same year did not reach such an enigmatic figuration, remaining a pure expression of Pollock's wrist mingling thick intense lines and angel's hair. This black enamel on canvas 150 x 150 cm was sold for $ 61M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 11.
Despite the commercial failure of a first exhibition, Pollock persevered up to a total of 33 black paintings. Were they indeed more than a refined form of Rorschach blots ?
Grok thought :
Quote :
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: An incredible example of Jackson Pollock’s ‘Black Paintings’, ‘Number 17, 1951’ fetches $61M - a new auction record for the artist.
- Sotheby's post announces the $61 million sale of Jackson Pollock's "Number 17, 1951," a black enamel drip painting from his late-career "Black Paintings" series, marking a public auction record for the artist in 2021 as part of the Macklowe Collection.
- Created amid Pollock's personal struggles with alcoholism and creative doubt, the work exemplifies his shift to monochromatic abstraction on untreated canvas, using black to evoke dense, psychological labyrinths that challenged his earlier colorful drips.
- As of 2025, the $61 million price remains Pollock's top auction result, underscoring sustained demand for Abstract Expressionism despite private sales like "Number 5, 1948" fetching higher undisclosed sums.
