In the film Pollock, the actor and filmmaker Ed Harris depicts Jackson Pollock as a tremendously troubled individual. Indeed, Pollock rises to fame only with the considerable intellectual, emotional, and financial support of others. How do others, particularly Pollock\’s wife Lee Krasner contribute to the painter\’s ultimate success? How about his patroness Peggy Guggenheim? Critics such as Clement Greenberg? Can one reasonably argue that rather than being a genius who created his works in isolation, we might consider Pollock\’s work \”socially constructed\”? A broader question to consider: how does the movie influence your view of Pollock\’s work? Do the details of an artist\’s life matter when analyzing and appreciating their art?
Please read pages 602-604 in Gombrich. Using direct quotes, describe how Gombrich defines and characterizes Abstract Expressionism. Next, drawing on material from lecture, describe the general argument of Clement Greenbergs influential essay, Avant-Garde and Kitsch. According to Greenberg, what makes the work of Avant-Garde artists like Picasso (and eventually Jackson Pollock) superior to the academic tradition? How does Greenbergs resistance to traditional figurative art help explain the American acceptance of Pollock and Abstract Expressionism following World War II.
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