Jackson Pollock
1912-1956 · American · Abstract Expressionism, Action painting
Biography
Jackson Pollock, born in Cody, Wyoming, studied with Thomas Hart Benton and absorbed Mexican muralism, Surrealist automatism and Jungian ideas before inventing his drip technique around 1947. Laying canvases on the floor of his Springs, Long Island barn, he poured and flung enamel paint in all-over webs that broke with easel painting and made him the emblem of Abstract Expressionism. He died in a car crash at 44, so classic drip paintings from 1947 to 1950 are extremely rare and mostly in museums. That scarcity drives the market: a handful of major works appear in a decade, and each sets the pace for the whole post-war category. In May 2026 Number 7A from the S.I. Newhouse collection made 181.2 million dollars.
Recent auction results
| Untitled (1948)Phillips, New York | $9.17M | May 19, 2026 | heni.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number 7A (1948)Christie's, New York | $181.2M | May 18, 2026 | heni.com |
| Untitled (1948)Phillips, New York | $15.34M | Nov 19, 2024 | heni.com |
Market
- Liquidity: Low
Museums
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venezia
- National Gallery of Art, Washington
News
- Oct 14, 2026: 8 Roy Lichtenstein Works that Explain Why the Pop Artist Is So Influential Artsy
- Oct 2, 2026: Lee Krasner Steps Out From Pollock’s Shadow Artsy
Sources
- HENI News, Number 7A
- HENI News, vendita Newhouse da Christie's
- HENI News, record precedente Number 17, 1951
- HENI News, profilo Jackson Pollock
- Wikipedia, List of most expensive paintings
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