Untitled (Collage I)

Artist Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956)

Datec. 1951

MediumEnamel, silver paint, and pebbles on illustration board

DimensionsSheet: 21 3/4 × 30 in. (55.25 × 76.2 cm)
Framed: 31 1/2 x 39 3/4 x 1 3/4 in. (80.01 x 100.97 x 4.45 cm)

Credit LineCollection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Museum purchase made possible by a grant from The Burnett Foundation

Object number1985.30

Status

Not on view

Signedcannot verify because of backing

Category

Label TextPouring, dripping, brushing, and splashing paint from edge to edge, Jackson Pollock created a new type of pictorial field, producing images that have evoked comparisons ranging from Walt Whitman to chaos theory. Even during the years that Pollock concentrated much of his effort on large-scale paintings, the artist produced a number of drawings and paintings on paper, the Modern’s Untitled (Collage I), c. 1951, being a superb example. Untitled (Collage I) represents Pollock’s understanding and appreciation of the concept of scale, the ability to make something small, even intimate, seem big. On less than six square feet of illustration board, he created a pictorial galaxy using black enamel and silver paint infused with small pebbles. Dripping the paint near the corners and at times over the edges of the support, the artist created lines of visual energy that suggest movement beyond the paper ground. Although the flatness of the picture plane has often been a characteristic associated with Abstract Expressionism, Pollock’s best works oscillate between surface and deep space, as in Untitled (Collage I). Here, the clusters of pebbles bring attention to the surface while also suggesting a telescopic view of a far-off planet or star clusters: a kind of Milky Way in enamel and rock.