Customer Reviews

Love Affair: A Memoir of Jackson Pollock

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a dreadful little book about the downslide of a great artist and the parasite who attached herself to him like a barnacle. Ruth Kligman has never shown even an ounce of talent for anything on her own, and continues to try to live off the carcass of an artist who, by the time she met him, was on the dark side of a distinguished career. What possible motive could there be for a book that portrays the Big Dripper as a big drip? How could she evince so little feeling for the friend she lost in the tragic accident that claimed Pollock's life? What could this possibly do for his legacy but harm it, as it portrays him as a drunken, self-absorbed infant given to weeping fits and artistic impotence? Kligman gives new meaning to the phrase "with friends like these"--regarding both her dead friend and Pollock.

I saw the motion picture "pollock" and started to take intrest in the life of Jackson Pollock. when I came across this book I got curious and bought it - what can she possibly write about? I was a little amazed: the book was totaly about her! all she wrote about was herself and pollock's great love for her and how he became depended on her completely. she kept going on and on about how he needed love so despretly and how he was never loved before, totally ignoring his wife, Lee Krasner, and the many years she spent with him, standing beside him and helping him become the appreciated artist he is. she described Krasner as a terrifying angry woman that all she did was terrorize Pollock, when she seemed to forget she had her so called love affair with a married man, invading Krasner's house and living there with Pollock while Krasner was in europe, pretending she was married to him.

I dont think this can be considered a memoir of Jackson Pollock. it does speak of the last months of his life, but it gives very little information about him as a person (beside the fact the he could'nt live without Ruth Kligman) and nothing at all about Pollock as an artist. in fact, in that period of time he did not paint at all.

A poorly written, self-serving book written by a bit player who is still feeding on Pollock 47 years after his drunken, ignominious death. Pathetic.

Ruth Kligman's account of her "love affair" is tacky, self-serving and poorly written. It's a shame that this adultress continues to live off of a "fame" taken at the expense of the suffering of others through the exploitation of a great artist's demise, a "friend's" death, a undeserving wife, etc. etc.

It seemed to me that the book was more about Ruth Kligman than Pollock. The majority of the book was devoted to trying to convince the reader how important she was/is to the Pollock legend. I finished the book still knowing less than I wanted to know about Pollock and way more than I wanted to know about Kligman. It is my fault however; the title should have been my clue.

Although Ruth Klingman is a clumsy writer (ie we silently went into the silent house.), the book was of value based on the time period it explores.
The story takes place in Jackson Pollock's last year, when his life became totally unravelled. He has alienated his friends and colleagues;started an affair with Klingman; his wife seperated from him and he spent most of his time either drunk or otherwise unable to function. If you can get beyond Ruth Klingman's overblown efforts to make this a romance story (which it is not), It tells of Pollock's unnerving behavior in the final few months before his death.
There is significant art world gossip about Ruth Klingman during this time. She is said to have asked for a list of the best painters in New York at the time and when she was told the best was Pollock, was said to lay claim on him immediately. Within a year of Pollocks death she had started an affair with #2 on the list (Willem de Kooning) which lasted on again off again until 1962. I think the only reason she didn't also have an affair with Franz Kline (#3 on the list) was because he died before her final break up with de Kooning. Because of these stories, her claims in the book that she loves Pollock forever and that he is the only person she ever loved is hollow. It seems she wants the reader to think she is both a sympathetic character and more important than she really was. It comes off as pretentious. It would have made her both more believable and more sympathetic if she would have told of what she has done with her life since the accident in 1956 and perhaps included an honest assessment of her life in the afterward.
However,I would recommend this book, not as a sole source for his biography, but to flesh out other biographies on Pollock.

This book should definitely be used as a fine example of relationship pathology. It has nothing to do with the artistic life of a genius, just about a woman's idea of her importance by association. Reading it is actually nauseating on so many levels; and this dysfunctional relationship claimed an innocent victim at the end. Spare yourself this self-referential piece of trash.

It is a facinating read. We get to know Jackson Pollock and his contemporaries. We also get to know his genius, neediness, sadness and depression. Yes, there was a bond there. But the author seemed to lose her "self" in her desire to make him happy. Perhaps, this is 20/20 hindsight but her love for him bordered on obsession. Her happiness, her very being, depended on Jackson Pollock's every whim. I found this book disturbing and heartbreaking.

Forget the inferior, overstuffed biographies of Pollock - THIS reissue of the 1970's hardcover, with a new, powerful introduction by the author, has everything going for it: fame, excitement, love, historic figures, and it's an engrossing read. You won't these insights elsewhere; the last months of Pollock's life (with the author by his side) are being erased from the Official History! A bond still strong after 44 years.