Number 5, 1952

Artist Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956)

Date1952

MediumEnamel on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 56 1/4 x 31 3/4 in. (142.88 x 80.65 cm)
Framed: 59 3/8 x 34 5/8 x 1 7/8 in. (150.81 x 87.95 x 4.76 cm)

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

Object number1985.31

Status

On view

Signedrecto u.r.c. in pencil "J. Pollock 52"

Category

Paintings

Label TextAlthough Jackson Pollock is best known as a pioneering Abstract Expressionist, the artist left pure abstraction to return to an abstract/figurative hybrid just prior to his premature death in 1956. Number 5, 1952, 1952, was made during the artist’s black-and-white period, in which he eliminated color and began drawing ambiguous figures into abstract fields. A female, whose head, breasts, and legs seem spontaneously articulated, is embedded in a rush of lines and pools of black enamel. The composition demonstrates Pollock’s degree of control over his unconventional tools, including sticks, hardened or worn-out brushes, and a basting syringe, all of which required him to simultaneously manage his gesture and the flow of paint. It is difficult to discern in Number 5, 1952 whether the figure has emerged from the overall field or the reverse, which creates a tight linkage between representation and abstraction.