The dream-like images on this sheet demonstrate how Pollock improvised as he worked. What were perhaps free-form lines in the center of the sheet, for example, became a reclining female figure once he added details that suggest a breast. And in the lower left corner, a face materializes from dense scribbles that obscure a bird with outstretched wings. A balance of chance and intention, this approach was influenced by the Surrealist practice of automatic drawing, in which the hand moves unfettered by the conscious mind.

Gallery label from

Jackson Pollock: A Collection Survey, 1934-1954, November 22, 2015–May 1, 2016.

Medium Ink on paper
Dimensions 20 5/8 x 25 7/8" (52.5 x 65.8 cm)
Credit Gift of Samuel I. Rosenman (by exchange)
Object number 713.1980
Department Drawings and Prints

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Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock

American, 1912–1956 86 works online

In 1947 Jackson Pollock arrived at a new mode of working that brought him international fame. His method consisted of flinging and dripping thinned enamel paint onto an unstretched canvas laid on the floor of his studio.

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