Skip to Main Content

 Admission is always freeOpen today: 10:00  to 5:00  Directions             Play Artle            

                  -  Visit                      - Visit
                    - Getting Here
                    - Accessibility
                    - Tours, Guides & Maps
                    - Food & Drink
                    - Gallery Shops
                    - Visitor Policies 
                  -  Collection                      - Collection
                    - Highlights
                    - Search the Collection
                    - Artists Search
                    - Acquisition Highlights
                    - Stories
                    - Games 
                  -  Exhibitions                      - Exhibitions
                    - Current
                    - Special Installations
                    - Upcoming
                    - On Tour
                    - Past 
                  -  Calendar                      - Calendar
                    - Films
                    - Performances
                    - Talks
                    - Guided Tours
                    - After Hours
                    - Fun for Kids
                    - Festivals
                    - Workshops 
                  -  Learn                      - Learn
                    - Teachers
                    - Families
                    - Teens
                    - Adults
                    - Learning Resources
                    - Music Programs
                    - Film Programs 
                  -  Conservation                      - Conservation
                    - Projects
                    - Publications
                    - Resources 
                  -  Research                      - Research
                    - The Center
                    - Publications
                    - Make an Appointment
                    - Archives
                    - Library
                    - NGA Online Editions 
                  -  Support                      - Support
                    - Donate Now
                    - National Membership
                    - Circle Membership
                    - Leadership Groups
                    - Planned Giving
                    - Major Giving
                    - Gifts of Art 
                  -  Shop                      - Shop
                    - Books
                    - Jewelry
                    - Apparel & Accessories
                    - Kids
                    - NGA Custom Prints 
                  -  Play Artle

Home>Plan Your Visit>Tours, Guides, and Maps>Self-Guided Tours>Audio Stop 22

# Audio Stop 22

Your browser does not support this audio player.

There was a problem loading this track.Loading

00:0000:00

Jackson Pollock

## *Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)*, 1950

Jackson Pollock’s mural-size drip paintings met with mixed reactions when they debuted in 1948. For this painting, he laid a large canvas on the floor of his studio barn, nearly covering the space. Using house paint, oil paint, enamel, and aluminum, he dripped, poured, and flung pigment from loaded brushes and sticks while walking around it. He said that this was his way of being in his work, acting as a medium in the creative process. He “signed” the painting in the upper-left corner and at the top of the canvas with his handprints.

**HARRY COOPER:**

Pollock said, “On the floor I feel more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting.”

**NARRATOR:**

Jackson Pollock began this large painting by stretching out the canvas on the floor of his barn- turned-studio on the eastern end of Long Island.

Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern art.

**HARRY COOPER:**

He’s using the brushes—not the brush end, but the other end—to guide paint out of the can as he does a kind of dance around the canvas, sometime stepping right into the canvas, pouring the paint, dripping it, dribbling it, flinging it, sometimes, with really big gestures. We see some of those big gestures in the black, going the full height of the canvas. There’s a sense that everything is pulverized.

**NARRATOR:**

Although there’s the appearance of spontaneity, the very sense that anyone, even a child, can make a painting like this one, Pollock asserted, “I can control the flow of the paint, there is no accident.” Pollock’s process initially shocked the public. But he rather quickly gained the favor of the leading art critics. One dubbed his style “action painting,” calling the canvas a place to act, an arena of sorts. Another, Clement Greenberg, gave this painting its title, “Lavender Mist”; out of the complicated tangle of paint, he saw a purplish aura.

**HARRY COOPER:**

We have this world of possibilities for how to approach the painting. We can approach it very physically, thinking about action and gesture. Or we can approach it very optically and maybe forget that it was painted on the floor. After all, we’re looking at it on the wall in the museum, just as we look at any other painting. It’s the kind of painting that you can spend a long time in front of. It feels endless.

East Building Tour: Featured Selections

Stop not found. Please try a different number.

### Stay connected

Learn more about our exhibitions, news, programs, and special offers.

About
          - About the National Gallery
          - Stories
          - Press
          - FAQs
          - Contact Us

Plan a Visit
          - Getting Here
          - Accessibility
          - Today's Tours
          - Food & Drink
          - Calendar
          - Downloadable Map

Get Involved
          - Donate
          - Membership
          - Volunteer
          - Opportunities
          - Shop Online

Resources
          - Search the Collection
          - Conservation
          - Library
          - Archives
          - The Center
          - Film Programs
          - Music Programs
          - Audio/Video
          - Open Access Images

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

**West Building**6th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed.*

**East Building**4th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 4th Street.*

**Sculpture Garden**7th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 7th Street, Constitution Avenue, or Madison Drive.*

We are closed on December 25 and January 1.

*The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.*

          -  Twitter 
          -  Facebook 
          -  Instagram 
          -  Pinterest 
          -  YouTube 

© 2024 National Gallery of Art   Notices   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy