ART ICON JACKSON POLLOCK | THE LEGENDARY AND MISUNDERSTOOD PAINTER ALSO KNOWN AS "JACK THE DRIPPER"

Painter Jackson Pollock (seated R) sitting on the steps of painter Thomas Hart Benton's summer home w. Rita Benton (sitting, in white hat) and author Coburn Gilman (standing). Martha's Vineyard, ca. 1937.

THE ORIGINAL POST ON JACKSON POLLOCK, DONE WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF THESELVEDGEYARD's INCEPTION, CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF TSY's TOP POSTS EVER. I THINK IT SPEAKS VOLUMES ABOUT POLLOCK'S RELEVANCE, TIMELESSNESS, AND MYSTIQUE. OBVIOUSLY THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE MAN AND HIS LEGENDARY WORK THAT KEEPS PEOPLE COMING BACK DAY AFTER DAY, YEARS AFTER HIS PASSING.

Artist Jackson Pollock painting in his Springs, NY studio, ca. 1949.

ART ICON JACKSON POLLOCK WAS A MAJOR FORCE IN THE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM MOVEMENT, AND KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE ART WORLD AS A DARK AND MOODY MAVERICK. HE WAS UNDENIABLY AN OBSESSED AND INNOVATIVE GENIUS, AND MUCH MORE. POLLOCK'S TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN CAREFULLY STUDIED OVER THE YEARS, AND IT'S THOUGHT BY MANY THAT SOME OF HIS WORKS CONTAIN PROPERTIES SPECIFIC TO MATHEMATIC FRACTALS, AND THAT THE WORKS AS A WHOLE BECOME MORE FRACTAL-LIKE CHRONOLOGICALLY. SOME EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO SPECULATE THAT POLLOCK MAY HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE NATURE OF CHAOTIC MOTION, AND THROUGH HIS PAINTINGS WAS CREATING WHAT HE PERCEIVED AS PERFECT REPRESENTATIONS OF MATHEMATICAL CHAOS -- AND ALL THIS MORE THAN 10 YEARS BEFORE CHAOS THEORY WAS DISCOVERED. SO I ASK YOU -- IS IT ARTISTIC INSPIRATION, MATHEMATICAL GENIUS, RANDOM DRIPPINGS, OR ALL OF THE ABOVE?

Jackson Pollock's "One: Number 31", painted 1950.

CLICK HERE TO SEE AN AMAZING OLD FILM ON THE ARTIST, STARRING AND NARRATED BY NONE OTHER THAN JACKSON POLLOCK HIMSELF. WATCHING THE FILM, IT STRUCK ME THROUGH HIS STIFF VOICE AND PHRASING THAT THIS WAS DEFINITELY A SOCIALLY AWKWARD MAN, WHO FELT MORE COMFORTABLE IN HIS ART THAN AROUND PEOPLE. ALL THE TALES AND ACCOUNTS THAT SURROUND HIS LIFE, AND THE AMAZING PORTRAYAL IN FILM BY ED HARRIS, DEFINITELY SUPPORT THIS AS WELL.

Painter Jackson Pollock, master of chaos, in his Springs, NY studio.

SADLY IN 1955, THE WORLD LOST A LEGEND. AFTER A LONG AND TUMULTUOUS STRUGGLE WITH ALCOHOLISM, EVER DEEPENED BY THE PRESSURES OF FAME AND HIS AUDIENCE'S EXPECTATIONS, POLLOCK CRASHED HIS CAR LESS THAN A MILE FROM HIS EAST HAMPTON HOME AND WAS KILLED. HIS INFLUENCE LIVES ON TODAY IN ANOTHER WAY, AS HE WAS NOT JUST A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR PAINTERS, ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS WHO EMULATE HIS STYLE -- BUT ALSO THE COUNTLESS FASHION DESIGNERS AND VINTAGE CLOTHING NUTS WHO FOR YEARS HAVE CAREFULLY STUDIED OLD PHOTOS OF POLLOCK. THEY SCRUTINIZE EVERY DETAIL OF HIS WORN & SPLATTERED DENIM AND WORKWEAR -- AN INSPIRATION AND LEGACY THAT EVEN JACKSON POLLOCK HIMSELF CERTAINLY NEVER IMAGINED HE'D HAVE.

Painter Jackson Pollock, also a huge inspiration to men's workwear designers, in his Springs, East Hampton, NY studio.

Jackson Pollock in his Springs, NY painting studio, ca. 1949.

Jackson Pollock with a Long Island neighbor, amateur artist Mary Monteverdi, looking over her works, ca. 1949.

Painter Jackson Pollock, and wife Lee Krasner, talking with a guest at their East Hampton home, ca. 1949.

Husband & wife artists Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner walking outside on Long Island with their dog, ca. 1949.

Group portrait of American Abstract Expressionists, "The Irascibles." From left, rear: Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottleib, Ad Reinhardt, Hedda Sterne;(next row) Richard Pousette-Dart, William Baziotes, Jimmy Ernst (w. bow tie), Jackson Pollock (in striped jacket), James Brooks, Clyfford Still (leaning on knee), Robert Motherwell, Bradley Walker Tomlin; (in foreground) Theodoros Stamos (on bench), Barnett Newman (on stool), Mark Rothko (with glasses), NY, NY, ca. 1950.