Jackson Pollock

Estate of the artist
Lee Krasner Pollock, New York
Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Inc., New York
Joan Washburn Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1999

London, Marlborough Fine Art, Jackson Pollock, Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Collection of Lee Krasner Pollock, June 1961, no. 21
Düsseldorf, Kunstverein für die Rheinlände und Westfalen, Jackson Pollock, September - October 1961, no. 32
Zurich, Kunsthaus, Jackson Pollock, October - November 1961, no. 32
Rome, Marlborough Galleria d'arte; Milan, Toninelli Arte Moderna, Jackson Pollock, October - December 1962, no. 15
Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Jackson Pollock, February - April 1963, no. 32 
New York, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Jackson Pollock, January - February 1964, no. 29

Francis V. O'Connor, "The Genesis of Jackson Pollock: 1912 to 1943," Ph.D Dissertation, The John Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1965, pl. 51, illustrated
Francis V. O'Connor and Eugene V. Thaw, Jackson Pollock, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Drawings and Other Works, Volume I: Paintings, 1930-1947, New Haven and London, 1978, no. 69, p. 54, illustrated

Reclining Woman, a synthetic and powerful painting is one of the first examples of Pollock’s dynamic, forceful and ultimately tortured personality coming to force in his art.  It appears to be the culmination of Pollock’s early ability to contain dynamic subject matter within a coherent and stable pictorial structure derived from his analysis of “Renaissance” models.  The reclining female figure seen from the side effectively closes the sides of the design and frame a central figure. 

During this period in 1938, Pollock created a number of small, prophetic abstractions such as Reclining Woman.  These works are usually very heavily painted and appear to be Pollock’s attempt at isolating the essential turmoil underlying his artistic style and his own troubled personality at this time in his life. 

It is clear from all available stylistic and documentary evidence that 1938 is the turning point in Pollock’s formative years.  Three major influences can be discerned in Pollock’s art between 1938 and 1943: Orozco, Picasso and Miro.  Of these, Orozco would be to be the earliest.  Pollock’s assimilation of his style and motifs can be seen in works from this period.  The influence of Picasso and Miro – two artists Pollock claimed to admire the most in 1944 – can be found in almost all of his work after 1940.  Picasso’s influence can be seen, for instance, in many works from this period and especially in the present painting.  Parallel with this evolution is the appearance of powerful subjective iconography – much of it latent in his earlier work as far back as 1933 – which his new found technical and personal freedom permits him to set forth overtly for the first time in his career.