Autumn Rhythm by Jackson Pollock | Autumn Rhythm by Jackson Pollock

By Jackson Pollock

I have chosen to critique the art masterpiece, Autumn Rhythm. Autumn Rhythm is oil on canvas, 8' 9" x 17' 3." It is my opinion, before you can critique Autumn Rhythm; you must try to understand the artist and his/her background. Artist Jackson Pollock was from a working class family who lived and worked in Wyoming, Arizona, and southern California. He studied at two different art schools; Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles and the Art Student's League in New York, he also studied with several other great artists during his time. However the artist experienced some dark days in his life. The artist fought the demon of alcoholism, and came face to face with his addiction. Stepping forward into the unknown, Pollock allowed his parents to place him in Jungian therapy. "Jungian therapy is centered on its helpful, hopeful and unique ways of experiencing the human mind. With due consideration of religion and the spirit of individuals, it also embraces the collective history of humanity. With its emphasis on individuation, wholeness and centering, there is a focus on the healthy elements of the human mind and soul and a search for balance. Pollock did not want to converse with his therapist about his problems and addictions, so his therapist suggested that he paint a piece of art that expressed his unspoken thoughts and feelings, (psychology of Carl G. Jung)." When the therapist would ask questions, Jackson would not reply, so the therapist devised a plan to help Jackson to get his feeling out in the open. He would have Jackson to create with paints on canvas how he was feeling on the inside then the Jungian therapist would analyze the artwork that Pollock brought to him using Jungian symbolism. This therapy had little or no effect on Pollock's personal demons, but it had a significant impact on his artistic life by giving him a completely new type of Jungian symbols, signs, and abstractions to work with in his paintings in years to come. Thus, the masterpiece, Autumn Rhythm, is easier for us to understand why Jackson Pollock became a leading Abstract Expressionist in the early 1950's. Pollock used the technique of action painting or gesturalism. In October of 1950 Pollock produced this non-objected artwork by strangely pouring and dripping paint on an unscratched canvas that was lying on a flat floor in a barn he used as his studio. With its colors of black, white, and turquoise all forming webs and lines, Autumn Rhythm is a action work of art that causes your eyes to never stop moving over the canvas.

The elements that I see in Autumn Rhythm are line becomes shape, which the shape would be called scribbling in toddler talk. Webbing is another description I would use to describe the technique of design. The elements of texture and color are powerful, with the strong black, brown, touches white and turquoise you can almost feel the paints jumping out at you. The elements of value and space in also seen in the way the colors go from dark, light, thick to thin; I get the feeling the lines are moving out of control in motion and want to move off the canvas into the unknown. An uncontrolled and controlled process was one of principles that Jackson Pollock used to acquire balance in Autumn Rhythm. In other words, he did have a method to his madness. By pouring and dripping paint on the canvas to create Autumn Rhythm the emphasis of dominance and rhythm is seem in the movement of flicking, splattering of the paints. The harmony and variety is seen in the overall feeling of unity. All the elements and principle is equally distributed throughout the complete work of art.

Jackson Pollock named the artwork well. As a lover of art but not an expert of the arts I feel like the suggestive title, Autumn Rhythm clearly depicts the theme and tells of the action on canvas. With its coloring, line, shape, sense of space and balance Pollock's feeling and attitude came alive on the canvas. It was the artist process of reaching inward to his emotions that displayed an outward example on canvas that captured the admiration of the post war American public. Thus, his dark days gave way to a bright future with the influence of Jungian therapy. As for as I can tell the time spend in therapy was very beneficial to him because it opened up to the artist a starting over place; you could say a new season with a new world of experiences to explore. You can view the work of art, Autumn Rhythm in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.