Mask
Jackson Pollock
American, 1912–1956
1941
An oil on canvas in which Pollock sculpts a masklike visage with thick, energetic brushwork and bold black outlines to evoke a theatrical, ritual persona that probes identity and the unconscious.
At a glance a pale, stylized face seems to emerge and recede within a dark circular field, its lashes, curved mouth and flickering color accents creating a pulsing, rhythmic tension between figure and ornament.
Painted in 1941, Mask is from Pollock’s pre‑drip phase when he combined Surrealist biomorphism, Cubist fragmentation, and so‑called primitive mask motifs—a pivotal moment that helped move him toward the all‑over, gestural abstraction that transformed postwar painting.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
16 3/4 x 19" (42.5 x 48.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Enid A. Haupt Fund
Accession
427.1980
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
