Artist
Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956)American, 1912–1956
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Number 6
Date1949
PlaceUnited States
MediumDuco and aluminum paint on canvas
Dimensions44 3/16 × 54 in. (112.3 × 137.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by D. and J. de Menil
Object number64.36
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 203
On view
Explore Further
Department
Modern and Contemporary ArtObject Type
paintings that Jackson Pollock produced using
the drip technique, which he had learned
from David Alfaro Siqueiros in the mid 1930s.
Laying the canvas on the floor, Pollock worked
on the composition from above and all sides,
creating intricate skeins of paint as he modulated
each line and gesture. The result is remarkable
in its lyrical dynamism and complexity as
Pollock discarded specific frames of reference.
He summed up his work in 1950: “Abstract
painting is abstract. It confronts you.”
Provenance[Betty Parsons Gallery, New York]; Mr. & Mrs. Burton Tremaine, Jr., Meriden, Connecticut, July 13, 1950–December 30, 1964; purchased by MFAH, 1964.
Exhibition History"Jackson Pollock," Museum of Modern Art, New York, December 19, 1956–February 3, 1957.
"Documenta II," Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, July 11–October 11, 1959.
"Jackson Pollock," Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, 1961.
"Jackson Pollock," Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, January–February 1964.
"1943-1953: The Decisive Years," Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, January 14–March 1, 1965.
"Two Decades of American Painting," National Museum of Art, Tokyo, October 15–November 27, 1966; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, December 10–January 22, 1967; Lalit Academy, New Delhi, March 25–April 15, 1967; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, June 6–July 8, 1967; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, July 17–August 20, 1967.
"6 Painters," University of Saint Thomas, Houston, February 22–April 2, 1967.
"First India Triennial of Contemporary World Art," New Delhi and Bombay, December 15–May 15, 1968.
"American Abstract Expressionists," Edinburgh Festival Exhibition Fruitmarket Gallery, August 13–September 12, 1981.
"Krasner/Pollock, A Working Relationship," Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York, August 8–October 4, 1981; Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University, November 4–December 12, 1981.
"Pollock Paintings," Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, February 22–April 4, 1982.
"Modern American Paintings: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," The Pinacotheque National Alexandre Soutzos Museum, Athens, September 20–November 7, 1982.
"Direction and Diversity: Twentieth Century Art in the Museum Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May 21–September 3, 1988.
"Texas Collects Willem de Kooning and His Contemporaries," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 19–May 21, 1995.
"Jackson Pollock: Defining the Heroic," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 2–June 30, 1996.
"Modern and Contemporary Art: Spotlight on the Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 7–August 27, 2000.
"Art at Midcentury: Spotlight on the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 13–September 3, 2001.
"A Modern Patronage: de Menil Gifts to American and European Museums," The Menil Collection, Houston, June 8–September 16, 2007.
"Modern and Contemporary Masterworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, December 8, 2007–March 2, 2008.
"Jorn & Pollock," Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark, November 16, 2013–Februrary 23, 2014.
"Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots," Dallas Museum of Art, November 20, 2015–March 20, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Upper left corner: "Jackson Pollock 49" also signed on back of canvas just above the center: "Jackson Pollock 49"
Catalogue raisonnéO’Connor, Francis Valentine and Eugene Victor Thaw. Jackson Pollock: A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Drawings, and Other Works. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1978, vol. 2, no. 247, p. 68, illus. p. 69.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
Jackson Pollock
c. 1930–1933
Oil paint over graphite, and varnish on brown wove paper
97.121
Charles LeDray
2009
Laundry cart contents: purple satin bag; clear, white, and black hangers made from alumilite clear cast resin and galvanized steel wire; six pairs of trousers, one shirt, and two neckties made from various fabrics. Laundry bag with nylon cord, alumilite toggles, fabric, and thread, stuffed with fabric.
Palette: wood, nails, glue, wood stain, dirt.
Cart: wood frame with woven aluminum strips, 1/8-inch ungalvanized steel rod, clear acrylic spray coating, canvas, thread, vinyl, aluminum rivets, dirt, and newspaper ink.
Broom: wood handle and housing with bristles.
Floor: linoleum backed with canvas.
2010.221
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