Bird
Jackson Pollock
American, 1912–1956
c. 1938-41
An oil-and-sand-on-canvas work in which Pollock fuses biomorphic and totemic imagery with heavy impasto and gritty texture to summon a primitive, birdlike presence.
Visually the painting hits with a rough, granular surface and stacked, round skull- or egg-like forms topped by a single watchful eye, all energized by thick black calligraphic marks and a sudden flash of red.
Executed in Pollock’s late-1930s–early-1940s transitional period, Bird bridges his surrealist, muralist influences and the surface experimentation that would help propel his later development and the emergence of Abstract Expressionism.
Medium
Oil and sand on canvas
Dimensions
27 3/4 x 24 1/4" (70.5 x 61.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Lee Krasner in memory of Jackson Pollock
Accession
423.1980
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
