No. 5, 1948

No. 5, 1948. It is a seminal drip painting created by the American artist Jackson Pollock at the height of his creative powers in 1948. The work is a quintessential example of Abstract expressionism and the broader New York School, characterized by its intricate, all-over composition of poured and dripped household enamel paint on a large sheet of fiberboard. Its record-breaking sale in 2006 cemented its status as an icon of post-war American art and a symbol of the radical shift in the global art capital from Paris to New York City.

Description and composition

The artwork is a dense, swirling labyrinth of lines created primarily with yellow, ochre, brown, gray, and white paints. Pollock applied the paint by dripping and flinging it from sticks, trowels, and hardened brushes onto the horizontal canvas, a method that allowed him to be physically "in" the painting. The composition lacks a central focal point, instead presenting an energetic, rhythmic web that extends to all edges of the fiberboard support. This "all-over" technique rejects traditional perspective and figuration, immersing the viewer in a purely abstract, dynamic visual field that evokes natural forces like nests, spiderwebs, or celestial galaxies.

Creation and technique

Pollock created this work in his famous barn studio in The Springs on Long Island, nailing the large panel to the floor to walk around and across it. He utilized commercial enamel paint and aluminum paint, often straight from the can or with the aid of syringes, achieving varying viscosities and textures. This process, later dubbed "action painting" by critic Harold Rosenberg, emphasized the physical act of painting as an event or performance. The technique was influenced by Surrealist automatism, Native American sandpainting, and the monumental scale of Mexican muralism as practiced by David Alfaro Siqueiros, whom Pollock had studied under in the 1930s.

Provenance and ownership history

The painting was initially sold through Pollock's influential dealer, Betty Parsons, whose Betty Parsons Gallery was central to the Abstract expressionism movement. It entered the collection of Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., the publishing magnate behind Condé Nast. In a private sale brokered by Sotheby's in 2006, it was purchased by the Mexican financier David Martínez de Guzmán for a reported $140 million, a price that set a historic world record at the time. This transaction surpassed the previous record held by Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and highlighted the soaring market for blue-chip 20th-century art.

Significance and critical reception

Upon its debut, the painting was championed by proponents of the new American avant-garde, including critic Clement Greenberg, who saw in Pollock's work the pinnacle of modernist painting's push toward flatness and opticality. It became a lightning rod in the cultural debates of the Cold War, symbolizing American individualism and creative freedom in contrast to the Socialist realism of the Soviet Union. While initially met with derision from more conservative critics—who famously asked "Is this art?"—it was ardently defended by institutions like The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which later acquired other major Pollock works such as One: Number 31, 1950.

Cultural impact and legacy

The painting's record sale amplified its mythos, making it a global symbol of artistic value and a frequent reference in popular culture, from films to literature. It fundamentally shaped the identity of the Abstract expressionism movement, influencing subsequent generations of artists including Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and practitioners of Lyrical abstraction. The work is often analyzed in relation to Post-painterly abstraction and movements like Color Field painting. Its enduring legacy is its radical redefinition of the painter's process, positioning the canvas as an "arena" for action and cementing Jackson Pollock's status as a legendary, tragic figure in the story of American art.

Category:Paintings by Jackson Pollock Category:Abstract expressionist paintings Category:1948 paintings