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Jackson Pollock and the Native-American Shaman

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JACKSON POLLOCK AND THE NATIVE-AMERICAN SHAMAN ____________ A Thesis Presented To the Faculty of California State University Dominguez Hills ____________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Humanities ____________ By Marilou Staker Summer 2019 THESIS: JACKSON POLLOCK AND THE NATIVE-AMERICAN SHAMAN AUTHOR: MARILOU STAKER APPROVAL APPROVED: Patricia Gamon Ph.D. Thesis Committee Chair Matthew Luckett Ph.D. Committee Member Kirstin Ellsworth Ph.D. Committee Member TABLE OF CONTENTS APPROVAL ................................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 Central Topic and Focus ..................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review................................................................................................................ 3 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND................................................................................................ 6 Early Years and Influences ................................................................................................. 6 Primitivism ........................................................................................................................ 10 3. INFLUENTIAL EVENTS ........................................................................................................ 13 John Graham ..................................................................................................................... 13 Carl Jung and Pollock’s Jung-Based Therapy .................................................................. 17 Museum of Modern Art’s Exhibit Indian Art of the United States, 1941 ........................ 20 4. SHAMANISTIC INFLUENCES IN POLLOCK’S ART ........................................................ 26 Shaman as Artist and Healer ............................................................................................. 26 Examples of Pollock’s Representation of Shamanistic Ideas ........................................... 30 Naked Man (1938-41) ....................................................................................................... 30 Guardians of the Secret (1943) ......................................................................................... 34 All-Over Drip Paintings (1946-50) ................................................................................... 39 5. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 45 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................................... 48 iii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Kiva Mural ................................................................................................................................ 21 2. Bird. .......................................................................................................................................... 22 3. Sky Father and Earth Mother .................................................................................................. 23 4. Four goddesses Surrounded by Rainbow. ............................................................................... 23 5. Haida Shaman Grave Box ........................................................................................................ 24 6. Navajo sand-painters at the Museum of Modern Art, 1941..................................................... 28 7. Naked Man ................................................................................................................................ 31 8. Mask ......................................................................................................................................... 33 9. Guardians of the Secret ............................................................................................................ 34 10. Wooden mask .......................................................................................................................... 36 11. Pottery bowl ............................................................................................................................ 37 12. Autumn Rhythm: Number 30 ................................................................................................... 39 13. Jackson Pollock at Work ......................................................................................................... 42 iv ABSTRACT Abstract Expressionism has generally been studied as the formal confluence of abstraction, surrealism and expressionism transposed onto America’s shores during the psycho- traumatic existentialist World War II period and atomic aftermath. An underlying theme of many modernist studies is primitivism. This study varies in that it specifically looks at the art of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) as a member of the New York School in the 1940s and early 50s when under the influence of Native-American art and culture, as well as the writings of John Graham, and Jungian psycho-therapy, as he struggled with alcoholism and personal demons. During the period Pollock integrated Native-American shamanism and Navajo sandpainting healing ceremonies and techniques while his art evolved from figurative abstraction into all-over nonobjective drip painting as a means to express his unconscious and to heal himself. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Central Topic and Focus My thesis examines the incorporation of the shaman spirit of Native-American culture in the art of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). The role of the shaman as healer and artist resonated with Pollock and provided a structure for him to explore his own psyche. Although Pollock was influenced by many other factors, this paper will focus on the influence of Western Native- American art, especially Navajo sandpaintings, in the development of his artistic design, technique, symbolic motifs and the underlying shamanistic meaning of his Abstract Expressionist works. I was immediately drawn to Pollock’s drip paintings when I saw them in art museums, specifically the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice. I enjoyed learning more about his art while studying art of the twentieth century and wanted to discover even more about this “great American artist.” Many have theorized what ideas and events influenced Jackson Pollock. Discussions include the impact of Surrealists and automatism, primitivism, Picasso and Carl Jung’s ideas of the importance of the unconscious. Through my personal collection of Hopi, Navajo and Acoma pottery, and Navajo and Pueblo weavings, I became interested in Native- American symbols and references in Pollock’s paintings. It was my personal interest in Hopi and Navajo art that instilled in me a desire to learn more about Pollock’s interest in the Navajo shaman and their role artists and healers. Pollock wanted his work to speak for him and not his words. However, when he did make a comment his tendency was to refer to Native Americans and sandpaintings over any other specific influences. These comments along with his use of 2 Native-American references in his art piqued my interest in pursuing a greater understanding of his use of shamanistic ideas in his paintings. With this in mind, I have argued that specific overlapping events in Pollock’s life influenced his willingness to accept shamanistic ideas as he integrated them into his art. Born in Cody, Wyoming, Pollock’s early life and his exposure to Native-American culture planted the seed for his embracing of these ideas. A biographical approach examines these early experiences. I have defined what primitivism meant in the early twentieth century, outlined the renewed interest in primitivism in the US art community in the 1930s and 40s and noted its contribution to the resurgence and popularity of Native-American art. I have used the psychoanalytic approach to analyze the influence of John Graham’s article Primitive Art and Picasso (1937) and his System and Dialectics of Art, which focused on primitivism, the unconscious and referenced the Native-American culture. This approach included Pollock’s exposure to Carl Jung’s ideas, which include his Jung-based psychotherapy which began in 1939 and continued until 1942. His visit(s) to the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit, Indian Art of the United States (1941) as well as other Native-American exhibits in other museums are examined. I examined how these events in Pollock’s life afforded him answers to finding ways to explore his own self-expression through Native-American influences and specifically that of the Native- American shaman. I have analyzed specific works, Naked Man (1938-41) and Guardians of the Secret (1943), to show shamanistic influences and how Pollock’s all-over drip paintings reflect his integration of the Native-American shaman as healer and artist. The outcome of this examination is to gain another perspective of Pollock’s
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