Jackson Pollock was born on January 28th, 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. He was the youngest of five sons. Pollock grew up in Arizona and California and went to school at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. He moved to New York in 1929 and attended school at the Arts Student League*. During this time Pollock became associated with a group of artist known as "Abstract Expressionist"
Pollock had a unique painting technique working spontaneously with liquid paint. Pollock's painting technique involved him placing his canvas on the floor and walking around it while "dripping" or "pouring" the paint onto the canvas. Although he used paint brushes, the paint brush itself never touched the canvas surface. This technique left subject matter out of his paintings. Pollock felt his work did not require exact subject matter because it was always a constant development of "themes and obsession".
On August 8th, 1949 a four-page spread in Life Magazine posed the question "Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" He was also nicknamed "Jack the Dripper" from the article.
As Pollock's popularity rose, his inner demons did as well. Pollock battled alcoholism his entire life and his rise in popularity only increased his dependency on his addiction. On August 11, 1956 he died in Springs New York while driving drunk. Pollock had two friends with him at the time of his accident. One was killed instantly in the crash and the other was badly injured.
*On the final you will be asked to name 4 artist who went to school at the Art Students League
