Masterworks of Post-War Art: Pollock and Warhol

Jackson Pollock's Number 1 (1948)

Classification of the Work

• Title: Number 1
• Author: Jackson Pollock
• Timeline: 1948
• School or Country: USA
• Style: Abstract Expressionism

Theme

A path of fine lines overlaps and extends across the canvas, creating a composition that seems to have no limits.

Description

• Support: Canvas
• Technique: Oil and enamel painting (with aluminum paint)

Formal and Compositional Elements

• Form: Open pictorial
• Composition: Open or centrifugal
• Geometric Perspective
• Asymmetry
• Technique/Geometry: Dripping

Antecedents and Subsequent Influences

Pollock learned techniques from Native American (Navajo) sand painting. He also studied the works of Picasso and Miró. He created and utilized the dripping technique in several paintings.

Relations with Similar Works or the Author's School

Pollock used the dripping technique in various works, explaining that when his work was in full consciousness, he saw what he wanted to do. He did not make changes or destroy the image, believing that each painting had its own life and should be allowed to emerge.

Differences from Other Contemporary Solutions

Function and Meaning of the Work

Pollock felt the anguish of large, depersonalized, and disproportionate industrial cities. He could only express this anxiety, which carried a destructive instinct: despair. He poured his life into a self-destructive process that ended with his death in a car accident after several months of unproductiveness.

Historical and Artistic Context

Pollock's works reflected the frustrations he felt in large cities and in his own life.

Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup (1965)

Classification of the Work

• Title: Campbell's Soup
• Author: Andy Warhol
• Timeline: 1965
• School or Country: USA
• Style: Pop Art

Theme

A graphic reproduction of a well-known and popular tin of Campbell's tomato soup in the U.S., serving to demystify art and make artistic expression accessible to everyone.

Description

• Support: Canvas
• Technique: Acrylic and silkscreen ink

Formal and Compositional Elements

• Form: Closed or graphic
• Composition: Closed or centripetal
• Aerial perspective
• Symmetry
• Geometry: Circular composition

Antecedents and Subsequent Influences

Warhol worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for magazines such as Glamour, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar, and for companies like Tiffany & Co., while also collaborating with advertising agencies.

Relations with Similar Works or the Author's School

His drawn and painted works often depicted products like clothing, food, and other consumer goods. He consistently painted products emblematic of the era.

Differences from Other Contemporary Solutions

Function and Meaning of the Work

Choosing a can of soup as the main subject captures the very essence of Pop Art. Artistic representations of Campbell's soup cans also constituted a protest against institutionalized art, which often remains inaccessible to the public, revered without critical thought or conscience.

Historical and Artistic Context

Warhol's work reflected the consumer products of his era.