Memories in Pollock

Upon entering the current special exhibition Angels, Demons, and Savages: Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet and looking left, I am startled by this monumental enamel and oil on canvas by Jackson Pollock. Though two-dimensional, its form emerges as a formidable human head, imposing as any ancient bust. A more contemporary relationship comes to mind–a memory flickers each time I pass it by of Per Kirkeby’s Large Head (1984), which sat just around the corner in last season’s exhibition.

Cecilia Wichmann, Publicity and Marketing Manager

Jackson Pollock, Number 7, 1952, 1952. Enamel and oil on canvas, 53 1/8 x 40 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Emilio Azcarraga Gift, in honor of William S. Lieberman, 1987 © 2012 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Jackson Pollock, Number 7, 1952, 1952. Enamel and oil on canvas, 53 1/8 x 40 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Emilio Azcarraga Gift, in honor of William S. Lieberman, 1987 © 2012 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York