Product Description

Born in 1912, in a small town in Wyoming, Jackson Pollock embodied the American dream as the country found itself confronted with the realities of a modern era replacing the fading nineteenth century. Pollock left home in search of fame and fortune in New York City. Thanks to the Federal Art Project, he quickly won acclaim, and after the Second World War became the biggest art celebrity in America. For De Kooning, Pollock was the "icebreaker." For Max Ernst and Masson, Pollock was a fellow member of the European surrealist movement. And for Motherwell, Pollock was a legitimate candidate for the status of the Master of the American School. During the many upheavals in his life in New York in the 1950s and 60s, Pollock lost his bearings--success had simply come too fast and too easily. It was during this period that he turned to alcohol and disintegrated his marriage to Lee Krasner. His life ended, like that of 50's film icon James Dean, behind the wheel of his Oldsmobile, after a night of drinking. This book throws light on a new era in art and on the personality of Pollock, the undisputed master of Abstract American Expressionism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #460872 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Review
"In the beginning, the canvas is white, void; then the cautious start, then the running of the paint from the pot onto the white of the surface..."

About the Author
Don Wigal was an art, music and theology professor. He has taught introduction to modern art as well as survey of Western art. He was the art indexer of the Academic American Encyclopedia. He is specialized in Abstract Expressionism, especially in Pollock. He was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Dayton. Other titles by Dr Wigal for Parkstone are noted in this catalogue. He is a member of the Authors Guild and the American Society of Composers, Artists and Publishers.

Customer Reviews

Pollock Unveiled
I must confess to having litle appreciation of the work of Jackson Pollock before reading Donald Wigal's "Pollock: Veiling the Image." This was surely due in large part to my bias in favor of representational art--a bias that endures. But this book has brought me to a genuine appreciation of a major artist. A light went on when I read: "Several artists stress the theme about Abstract Expressionism in theory, but some acted it out less convincingly in their work. Likewise, other artists observe the effect paint has when dripped on to a surface, but none before Pollock developed it into the brilliant visual polyphony he made happen" (94). That phrase, "brilliant visual polyphony," was the light switch. I suddenly realized the kinship between abstract impressionism and music. I would never have demanded that a concerto have an identifiable subject. Thanks to Donald Wigal and to the marvelous reproductions in this book, I now recognize that Pollock is at his best when he is least representational, and that Pollock at his best is brilliant.
It occurs to me that there is a polyphonic quality to Wigal's text that mirrors the subject: There is, within a clear organization, a polyphonic overlay of cultural history, biographical fact, psychological observations, and critical insights, that is ingeniously suited to the complexity of the subject. Here art criticism reaches a high artistic level in its own right, and I find myself personally enriched.
If "Jackson Pollock: Veiling the Image" can do for others what it has done for me, it should be a valuable and enduring contribution to art criticism.

Joseph H. Wessling

Overarching new vision of Pollock for today
Wigal's "Veiling the Image" is a new vision of Pollock -- something completely grand & overarching as nothing else I've read & reinvigorates things for today's minds. It's complex, incredibly interesting, imaginative & makes one desire to re-engage with it's sense of contemporary relevancy & beauty. The text is fascinating & compelling -- actually awesome & totally readable. It examines Harris's film & moves forward to 2005 including interviews about my own yet to be released www.Pollocksquared.com indie feature.

Wigal's incredibly researched all of this not only philosophically but poured it all out in more fresh ways than one can imagine with wonderful fresh vignettes not only about Pollock in great detail but his milieux including Ruth Kligman, DeKooning, Agnes Martin, Frank O'Hara, Larry Rivers, includes references to many artists & critics of today including fractal scientist Richard Taylor. It even explores the market as related to Pollock's prices. The perfect unified one in all book for any Pollock lover or for people who never got it before -- because they will now. Does what other books can't. It looks like publisher Parkstone spared no expense in every aspect of quality control with this wonderful & beautiful production. It makes sense for today's modern audience.

For myself as an artist the vast number of large Pollock reproductions & their clarity of color & sharpness surpass by far the best I've seen of any Pollock's before. They're in a class by themselves. Many images were also completely new to me & very appreciated. Wigal's made it all happen, every aspect, coming totally alive in fresh imaginative ways in dimensions I've never remotely seen explored before.
I'll be exploring it for a long while.

Bill Rabinovitch
rabinart@aol.com
www.Pollocksquared.com

Dazzling unveiling
The author does with words what Pollock did with paint. Don Wigal hurls and drips facts around simple organizational concepts. Comments about an actress' Brooklyn accent sit within a larger skein of Pollock the rebel cowboy. Besides being enjoyable, these slipping-in-from-the-side factoids, they present a continually changing perspective on Pollock. These fresh viewpoints make it easier to understand Pollock as a real person.
It would have been better if the illustrations of Pollock's work were more related to the text. They are very well done, however. You can see the texture of the paint.
Wigal places Pollock, his genius and his personal failings, in the fabric of both his own time and larger questions of science, philosophy, and history. The book sent my head spinning after several pages; it is best read a bit at a time, then savored.