Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956)

Number 32 is one of the most radical pictorial inventions of Abstract Expressionism, and marks the moment when American art finally broke free from the European tradition after World War II. Here Pollock applies his newly-invented practice of 'dripping' in a large format composition. Industrial paint was poured, dripped, scattered and sprayed onto the canvas lying flat on the floor, creating a complex formal web of rhythmical trails of black on a pale ground. ___