You can’t talk about drip painting without mentioning Jackson Pollock.
His name is synonymous with drip painting.
Any artist who produces a drip painting these days is setting themselves up for comparison with Jackson Pollock.
He pretty much owns that corner of the market.
At the peak of his drip phase Pollock’s paintings sold for hundreds of millions of dollars and LIFE magazine proclaimed him the greatest living painter in the United States.
But enough about Pollock, let’s talk about something completely different!
I was a door to door salesman for roughly a month and as part of our motivation sessions the big cheese told us about growing bamboo.
So apparently after planting bamboo shoots the growth is marginal for four years. But in the fifth year it grows exponentially. What might have been just a few centimetres tall at the end of year 4 could be a few meters tall by the end of year 5.
So after surprising us all with his insight, the head honcho turns to us and asks the question – how long did it take for the bamboo to grow to its total height?
One year or five years?
Now back to art.
Jackson Pollock was 35 years old when his ‘drip phase’ started.
He had been painting for decades before his new style sent the art world into a frenzy.
With a quick internet search I found 35 paintings that pre dates Pollock’s ‘drip phase’.
And those were just the ones I could find, who’s to say how many paintings he actually did before his first drip painting?
I’d say it’s in the hundreds.
So the question is – how long did it take Jackson Pollock to become a star known the world over?
The time between his last non drip painting and his first drip painting or 35 years?
Thomas Duggan 