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The Guardian
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Monkeys, clowns and bottles hidden in Jackson Pollock's paintings, study says
Monkeys, clowns, self-portraits, elephants and bottles of alcohol are among the things that could be hidden within the work of Jackson Pollock, one of the giants of 20th-century abstract expressionism, new research claims. The American painter, who used a 'drip technique' to pour or splash paint on to a horizontal surface, once said he stayed away from 'any recognisable image' in his work. But a new study suggests the chaotic patterns contain images Pollock himself may have been unaware of because of his bipolar disorder. Published in CNS Spectrums by Cambridge University Press, the paper claims that Pollock's technique camouflaged 'consciously or unconsciously encrypted images', which they term 'polloglyphs', at the base of some of his most renowned paintings. It argues that many of the 'recognisable images' have parallels with sketches Pollock made for his first psychoanalyst in 1936 at the age of 24, and which the medical professional later sold. The paper, entitled Do Images in Jackson Pollock's Paintings – Polloglyphs – Arise from His Conscious and Unconscious, Or Are They All in the Viewer's Mind? cites Pollock's 1945 work Troubled Queen. While, on first glance, the painting looks like a complex mesh of colours and geometric patterns, if rotated by 90 degrees it reveals a 'charging soldier holding a hatchet and a pistol with a bullet in the barrel; a Picasso-esque rooster; a monkey with goggles and wine; and one of the clearest images, the angel of mercy and her sword,' the study said. Psychiatrist professor Stephen M Stahl, who led the research, and his team wrote: 'His remarkable ability to hide these images in plain sight may have been part of his creative genius and could also have been enhanced by the endowment of extraordinary visual spatial skills that have been described in some bipolar patients.' The researchers said it was possible that Pollock's 'bipolar visual perceptions allowed him to develop a unique technique to camouflage images beneath drippings'. They said the mass repetition of the same images made it 'very unlikely to be random provoked pareidolia'. Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion They acknowledged that polloglyphs in later drip paintings were more difficult to see or 'decode' from the chaotic layers of thrown paint. 'Ultimately, we may never know if there are polloglyphs present in Jackson Pollock's famous drip paintings. Nor can we know for sure whether they are merely in the mind of the beholder or put there consciously or unconsciously by the artist,' they said. The Rorschach quality of Pollock's paintings has fascinated art lovers for decades, with viewers perceiving many things in them – from scenes of classical mythology to Jungian symbols. In his book Tom and Jack, art historian Henry Adams claimed Pollock hid his own signature in his 1943 painting Mural. Jackson would cover entire canvases and used the force of his whole body to paint, often in a frenetic dancing style. His extreme form of abstraction divided critics: some praised the immediacy of the creation, while others derided its randomness, comparing it to the work of a child. But the painter remains a favourite of the art market. His works fetch tens of millions of dollars at auction, with the most expensive of all, Number 5 (1948), setting a world record when it sold for $140m in 2006. The artist died in 1956 after crashing a car while drunk.
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
‘Hidden images' in Pollock's work might have been intended
Jackson Pollock 's abstract paintings, filled with bold splashes of colour, are often derided as the kind of work a child could do. The American painter, who died in a car crash in 1956 after driving while drunk, said he tried to stay away from portraying 'any recognisable image' in his artwork. But a new study suggests that the chaotic and indecipherable patterns contain coherent images the artist may have been unaware of because of his bipolar disorder. Monkeys, clowns, self-portraits, elephants and bottles of alcohol are all apparently hidden in plain sight within the paintings, which are now worth millions. Pollock, one of the titans of 20th century abstract expressionism, used a 'drip technique', in which he poured or splashed paint onto a horizontal surface. He used the force of his whole body and frenetic dance to enable him to view the work from all angles. The drips hide 'camouflaged images' at the base of some of his most renowned paintings, demonstrating his complex and 'creative genius' says the new research, led by psychiatric professor Stephen M Stahl and his team, and published in CNS Spectrums by Cambridge University Press. Many of the 'recognisable' images', termed 'polloglyphs', have parallels with the sketches Pollock made for his first psychoanalyst aged 24, in 1936, which the therapist later sold. For example, the artist's 1945 work Troubled Queen, looks at first glance like a complex mesh of colours and geometric patterns. But the paper suggests that if rotated by 90 degrees, they reveal 'a charging soldier holding a hatchet and a pistol with a bullet in the barrel; a Picasso-esque rooster; a monkey with goggles and wine; and one of the clearest images, the angel of mercy and her sword.' The paper suggests that if rotated by 90 degrees the artist's 1945 work Troubled Queen would, for example, reveal The 'consciously or unconsciously encrypted images', which they term 'polloglyphs' 'His remarkable ability to hide these images in plain sight may have been part of his creative genius and could also have been enhanced by the endowment of extraordinary visual spatial skills that have been described in some bipolar patients,' said Professor Stahl. 'Ultimately, we may never know if there are polloglyphs present in Jackson Pollock's famous drip paintings,' the researchers write. 'Nor can we know for sure whether they are merely in the mind of the beholder or put there consciously or unconsciously by the artist.' Pollock said about his creative process: 'When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I am doing.' His 1948 work No 5 was sold to an undisclosed buyer for $140 million in 2006. He made a conscious effort to 'do away' with any images or shapes in his work, saying: 'I try to stay away from any recognisable image; if it creeps in, I try to do away with it.' But he admitted 'recognisable images are always there in the end.'
