Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center | July 29 – October 31, 2021

examines Picasso’s significant influence on Pollock, using examples of both artists’ work to illuminate that relationship. The exhibition is especially appropriate for us, given the relevant pieces in our holdings and our longstanding, mission-driven dedication to interpreting Pollock and Krasner’s achievements in a global context.

The hybrid exhibition, which includes original works and replicas, was inspired by Untitled (Composition with Red Arc and Horses), ca. 1938, the only Pollock painting in our permanent collection, in which Picasso’s 1937 mural, Guernica, is referenced, and by Pollock engravings, ca. 1944-45, containing Picasso-inspired imagery, on long-term loan to us from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Pollock’s only mosaic, a large panel created for the WPA Federal Art Project, is on loan from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, courtesy of Washburn Gallery, New York.

Although the two artists never met, Picasso’s precedents loomed large in Pollock’s formative years, especially during the late 1930s to mid-1940s, when he was transitioning from American Scene subject matter and absorbing the influence of the Mexican muralists, Native American art and Surrealism. As his biographer, B.H. Friedman, observed, Pollock was attracted to “Picasso at his most passionate and powerful; Picasso closest to his own dreams and nightmares.” In his essay, “Form and Chaos,” the distinguished scholar Pepe Karmel discusses Pollock’s assimilation process and its manifestation in his imagery, both figurative and abstract.

Helen A. Harrison
Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Director
Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center