Jackson Pollock

Born in 1912 in Cody, Wyoming, Jackson Pollock became a titan of 20th-century art by throwing convention out the window. Raised in Arizona and California, Pollock absorbed influences from Native American sand painting, Surrealist automatism, and Mexican muralism. In 1930, he moved to New York and studied under muralist Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League, where his appetite for large-scale expression was born.

Pollock's breakout moment came with the development of his now-iconic drip technique. Laying unprimed canvases on the floor of his barn studio, he used sticks, hardened brushes, and even turkey basters to fling, drip, and pour paint in erratic, rhythmic motions. This method—dubbed 'action painting' — blurred the line between the act of creation and the finished product. His canvases became arenas of movement, emotion, and chance.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Pollock’s work was celebrated, debated, and mythologized. His style evolved, switching between abstract splatter and figuration. He appeared in Life magazine, posed models for Vogue, and headlined international exhibitions, all while wrestling with fame and addiction. By the time of his tragic death in a car crash in 1956, Pollock had secured his place in art history.

Pollock's legacy lives not just in the museums that house his work, but in every artist who dares to break rules, embrace instinct, and chase raw expression. His defiance of boundaries paved the way for Abstract Expressionism and redefined what it means to be a modern artist.