Jackson Pollock: Energy Made Visible (Paperback)

by B. H. Friedman (Author) "On January 28, 1912, when Jackson Pollock was born in Cody, Wyo , nothing could have seemed less likely to his parents than that this..." (more)
Key Phrases: unframed space, greatest living painter, younger painters, New York, Jackson Pollock, East Hampton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Friedman's 1972 illustrated biography of the tormented and controversial Abstract Expressionist includes a new foreword by the author.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Nowhere is the complex and destructive painter Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) revealed with more compassion and insight than in this exemplary biography. Friedman, a friend of Pollock's and active in the art world, shows him to be a brilliant man tormented by his relationship to his family; an artist who worked hard through years of poverty to achieve his controversial painting technique; the first American painter to gain an international reputation for himself and for what has been variously called Action Painting or Abstract Expressionism; and a man who struggled with alcohol and the tension between gentleness and violence.Newly illustrated with seminal Pollock paintings, this book takes the reader inside the art world of New York during the '40s and '50s, when Action Painting first emerged. Friedman reveals what it meant to Pollock to experience the invasion of his studio and of the very act of painting by the external pressures of shows, reviews, films, dealers, critics, hostile publicity; and how, despite it all, Pollock created many of the most graceful and powerful paintings ever made in America.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 21, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306806649
• ISBN-13: 978-0306806643
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #301,122 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #8 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Artists, A-Z > ( P-R ) > Pollock, Jackson
  #19 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Abstract Expressionism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connections, January 10, 2007

By	Marie Kazalia "Marie KaZ..." (formerly San Francisco now Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was wowed reading this energetic, straightforward book, mainly by the many connections made--how Pollocks studies with the great Mexican muralist Orosco who used used/taught a dripping splashing underpainting technique can logically link to how Pollock got splashing and painting on large scale canvases---to the influence of other artists, such as Picasso, on the early works of Jackson Pollock, to the revelation of Pollock's love of and use of found natural forms...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for its time, December 25, 2007

By	Daniel Holland (Arroyo Grande, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This may have been one of the better Pollack books when it came out in 1972, but now I think its main use is for die hards who want every detail. And the details are exhausting: galleries, museums, who what where - too much for me. What I was looking for was more process/personal/mindset stuff, and there is some but you have to go through a lot to get to the little of it there is. I recommend "Jackson Pollack" by Ellen G. Landau. Great reproductions and good text.

11 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good review of Jackson Pollock's work, but not personal enou, July 11, 1999

By	[e-mail] (USA- Georgia) - See all my reviews

This book is a thorough review of Jackson Pollock's work and his professional life; however I would have enjoyed it more if there had been more indepth reporting of his personal life. HIs relationship with his wife, parents and brothers would have made for a more insightful view of the artist as a man.