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Hi, this is Linda from Five Minutes with
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Art. One of the most famous American
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artist by far is Jackson Pock. But one
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of his famous works of art is number
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five. That he did in 1948.
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And many people ask, well, why is this
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painting so famous? You know, the heart
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of American abstract expressionism, Pock
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1948, number five, is a testament to the
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complex interplay between art and the
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artist's life. The canvas is a sprawling
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constellation of drips, platters,
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And so, I think that's one reason why
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this is such an iconic masterpiece.
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Historically, the period following World
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War II was rife with change.
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Understandably, artists who sought to
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express the new world uncertainties,
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you know, the abstraction became the
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language through which they spoke. It
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became a clear departure from, you know,
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the art of the past. Pock in particular
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rode the crest of this wave and he
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really was somebody who put his whole
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body and soul into producing his works
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Now personal factors also weighed heavy
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on this number five. He was wrestling
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with inner demons notably alcoholism. He
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had a a very tumultuous you know
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personal life. His personal life was in
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disarray. There were struggles you
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steeped into his art. He was finding you
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know expression and chaotic energy and
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raw intense in his drip paintings. And
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he had sort of like this dynamic sort of
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dance that he did around the canvas laid
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out on the floor was both physically
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demanding and emotionally demanding in
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so many ways. He also had exposure to
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Native American sand painting and these
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you know creations of pouring color sand
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on surfaces and patterns and images sort
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of like sparked this approach to his
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art. So he really number five in 1948
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reflect the cross-cultural currents of
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the time. It really reflected this new
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type of art. This layer upon layer of
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this raw emotion on the canvas. This is
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one reason why number five 1948 by
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Jackson Pollock is so famous. It stands
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with the world swirls of there's chaos
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and there's this sort of lack of order
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but yet order within this work of art.
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order within the disorder. You could
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kind of say it's sort of like this
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post-war time in American history where
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there's sort of, you know, this anger,
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this changes going on. The, you know,
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60s haven't quite come yet, but, you
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know, people can feel there's a change
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coming on and Pock sort of embodied
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that. He sort of, you know, showed that
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You know, every drop and splatter on the
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was a shift from the traditional brush
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stroke, what became known as action
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painting. You know, action painting was
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when the painting was freely dripped and
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danced from his, you know, you know, his
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toolbox. So literally it was almost kind
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of like this poetic type of dance with
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layer upon layer with you know you could
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see Jackson Pollock you probably
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drinking smoking and dancing around on
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the canvas. You can see the motion of
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this work of art. It's almost like this
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visual type of orchestra of his artwork
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there. sort of this symphony of the
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drips of the colors of this different
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layering. Also the choice of colors is a
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you know understanding of their
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psychological impact from the earthy
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browns and yellows you know with the
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fiery reds and color cooling grays you
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know so it became all these different
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hues began to generate
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this this sort of you know silence
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renaissance on this this canvas itself
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which sort of echoed you know this also
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the human emotion in it. You had the,
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you know, the earthy browns and the
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yellows and the reds and the grays which
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are things that we maybe feel in our own
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emotion. You know, your eyes wander
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across the canvas. You know, there's a
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weave of the narrative, a tapestry of
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thought. You know, you can kind of
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really see again Jackson Pock's life
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there, you know, and that was one of the
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things that made Jackson Pock such a
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brilliant artist is he had this ability
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to put his emotion into the canvas. So
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when you see his canvas, you see it up
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close and you see the layering of it,
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you can almost feel the emotion and that
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dance going on. And that's why it
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remains this enduring testament to him
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that you know amid the turmoil of of his
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own personal life, Jackson Pollock was
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still able to paint and put that emotion
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and that turmoil into these grand
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masterpieces of art that it's it's like
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a a a performance or an orchestra that
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went on. If you'd like to be able to
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read more about this, we have a blog
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written on this called Why is Jackson
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Pollock's number five, 1948 so famous?
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And we'll put a link in the description
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below for you to read more about this.
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But that truly is, you know, Jackson
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Pollock was a master in being able to I
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feel like was a master in being able to
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show his emotion and his personal
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turmoil in the art that he produced. And
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that's what makes it such a great work
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of art and continues to be such a famous
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and great work of art today.
