Artist

Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 - August 11, 1956) was a very influential American abstract expressionist painter. Famed for the style of drip painting he helped develop and popularize, Pollock dripped, poured, and threw paint onto a horizontal canvas using unconventional tools such as sticks or basting syringes, moving his entire body with an energy that was passed to his work. In doing so, he gave up some control to factors such as gravity or the paint's viscosity, leading some experts to believe he had some sort of innate understanding of chaotic motion. Additionally, Pollock practiced an "all-over" method of painting, avoiding "clear and distinct points of emphasis, or any identifiable parts within the canvas." As a result, Pollock often disregarded the dimensions of his canvas,  focusing on the features that could only be appreciated when viewing the work as a whole. Though Pollock himself questioned his own art, even abandoning his drip style at the peak of his popularity in 1951, his works have proved to have lasting popularity and influence.