JACKSON POLLOCK: AN AMERICAN SAGA PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Gregory W Smith | 934 pages | 01 Sep 1998 | Woodward/White, Incorporated | 9780913391198 | English | United States Jackson Pollock: An American Saga PDF Book See 1 question about Jackson Pollock…. Seller Inventory GOR In eight years of research the authors have uncovered previously unknown letters and documents, gained access to medical and psychiatric records, and interviewed scores of the artist's friends and acquaintances whose stories had never been told. National Book Foundation. Up to this point, I had received different perspectives from reading Andy Warhol 's to Marcel Duchamp 's biographies. Synopsis About this title Jackson Pollock was more than a great artist, he was a creative force of nature. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. No trivia or quizzes yet. View 2 comments. If you want to know everything there is to know about Jackson Pollock, I highly recommend this book. Dust jacket slightly creased, with one small tear. Books by Gregory White Smith. Smith cite friends of Pollock who claim to have definite knowledge of his homosexual activities. The fact that they put up with Pollock's extremely violent alcoholic behavior was astounding! Well-written, incredible book about an amazing American artist. Dec 29, Heather rated it it was ok. Jackson Pollock was more than a great artist, he was a creative force of nature. Filed in the following archives. His body hurling in space towards his death becomes a metaphor and his speeding in the air takes on the quality of a freebird escaping from burdens. He and his problems are entitled to the great void of mystery and as responsible biographer readers always do it is important when reading this book to have respect for all the things that we truly do not know about him, his life, his issues, his demons, etc. Jul 23, Richard Wise rated it it was amazing Shelves: biography. Not only does the author provide insight into the artistic milieu of Pollock's time, he is also provides contextual depth via contemporary historic and political events. Extensively researched, it begins with the arrival of Pollock's ancestors to America in and continues to his death in Show and conceal; give and take. Synopsis About this title Based on interviews with more than people, this illustrated biography profiles the troubled life of the enigmatic avant-garde artist whose controversial work changed the definition of modern art "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. Everyone could see that. When invited on a radio show, the genius is asked about the meaning of his work, to which he replies that we should look at such artwork as we look at beds of flowers, without wondering what they mean- in another scene wherein Lee keeps talking about the technique and the explanations, the annoyed Pollock says- stop talking and paint the damn thing. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Landau, who teaches art history at Case Western Reserve University, Pollock was an artist, and an intelligent one at that. Seller Inventory EX Smith see his art as mired in that turmoil, Ms. There was something behind the drinking that was pushing at Jackson from within, tormenting him, even trying to kill him. Then walk around to see more of his work and ask myself what makes Pollock's art so important? Condition: new. I even knew he died in a car accident. It was March , only two years after Pollock's breakthrough show at the Betty Parsons Gallery gave the emerging avant-garde art world its first bright, bumptious triumph; only a little more than a year after the vast, luminous landscapes of Autumn Rhythm and Lavender Mist dazzled and confounded the critics; only five years after Clement Greenberg pronounced him "the most powerful painter in contemporary America"; only two and a half years after Life magazine thrust him into the spotlight of America's celebrity-mad postwar media, making him, virtually overnight, American art's first "star. Steven Naifeh ; Gregory White Smith. Here, for the first time, is the life behind that extraordinary achievement—the disjointed childhood, the sibling rivalry, the sexual ambiguity, and the artistic frustration out of which both artist and art developed. Get A Copy. This one spoke of escape and freedom. With his ample Irish charm he tried to calm the distant voice, but Pollock was inconsolable. Retrieved The problem with artist biographies is that there is a tendency to "explain" every aspect of their art in one to one correspondence to specific features of their life, when in a sense you are more interested in the struggle to create the art itself or at least I am. The question why so many of our most talented artists and writers are alcoholics will, I suspect never be satisfactorily answered. Jul 30, Jay "Jakie" rated it really liked it. Categories : non-fiction books American biographies Books adapted into films Jackson Pollock Literary collaborations Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography-winning works Biography book stubs Artist stubs Art book stubs. Pollock is presented as an artist driven by private demons, nursing psychic wounds inflicted by a rigidly controlling mother and a father who abandoned the family when Jackson was nine. Internally clean. Jackson Pollock: An American Saga Writer Average rating 4. Download as PDF Printable version. It's the source of the famous "pee" observation, where Jackson's observation of peeing in dust was credited as the source of his painting technique, and was suggestive of latent homosexuality. It's also about families, the great depression, socialism, surrealism, the shift of the intellectual and cultural center of gravity from Paris to NYC, L This brilliant biography is about much more than just the life of Jackson Pollock although that's a sufficiently worthy subject in its own right. Even when it began with beer in the morning and ended with bourbon at night; even when its roots reached back to junior high school, or further, to an alcoholic father; even when his life dissolved, as it had several times over the last twenty years, into a series of drunken binges punctuated by hospitalization, drinking alone could not explain what was happening to Pollock. Smith have their psychoanalytic formulas for her, and they condescend to her as an artist ''Her fire didn't burn hot enough'' ; but they admire and respect her, as she deserves to be admired and respected. First UK Edition. Paperback , pages. Buy Used Condition: Fair A readable copy of the book which I think in this case they assumed a certain level of intelligence or inquisitiveness on the part of the reader and an ability to arrive at your own conclusions. Oct 03, Denton Peter McCabe rated it liked it. Condition: Very Good. It's a door- stopper of a book but worth the effort. Jul 03, David rated it it was amazing. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Jackson Pollock, An American Saga, is also a brief history of American art from the s through the early 50s. Condition: Fair. A very well-written and thoroughly researched biography of a bewilderingly self-destructive artist. I can understand its usefulness for art historians and major Jackson Pollock fans, but the book, at least to my liking, was mostly "filler" and very little "killer," as the kids say. Drinking alone couldn't explain why, just a few months earlier, Pollock's new Cadillac convertible--bought as a boast of success--had skidded off a dry road and wrapped itself around a tree. These authors manage to stay on the narrow, rocky path of objectivity throughout, presenting Pollock and the people around him in a clear, bright light that shows both the good and the bad with equal focus. About Gregory White Smith. Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc. Search for all books with this author and title. It is a long book but definitively worth the time. Dust jacket slightly creased, with one small tear. Home Page World U. Great book about a great artist. Even talk of suicide had the air of ritual about it. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. The spotlight also illuminates many other figures whose lives intersect Pollock's, such as Thomas Hart Benton, Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, Peggy Guggenheim, and many other great figures of twentieth century art and culture. The protagonist has a positive connection with Clem Greenberg, the critic that would mostly appreciate, even praise the work of the most important painter of the new generation, up to the point where Clem feels that after a glorious decade, the paintings are no longer divine, spectacularly good, but just fine. Describes her as ugly etc. Jackson Pollock: An American Saga Reviews The relationship with the rich, vibrant, if not extremely good-looking woman is close, at one point the painter asks about the many lovers she is supposed to have had and wants to have sex with her, takes his pants down somewhat, but fails to have intimate relations for more than a few seconds. The question why so many of our most talented artists and writers are alcoholics will, I suspect never be satisfactorily answered. Views Read Edit View history. It's also about families, the great depression, socialism, surrealism, the shift of the intellectual and cultural center of gravity from Paris to NYC, L This brilliant biography is about much more than just the life of Jackson Pollock although that's a sufficiently worthy subject in its own right. The politics of art and the showrunners who made the artists we've come to know famous.