Conflict and its Consequences

Discussion through works of art encourage how to approach ambiguous and complex ideas, thoughts, and feelings. The MFAH offers a democratic space where students and teachers can develop, practice and articulate these habits of mind. Remember that the quality of the conversation is what is important, not finding the artist’s “answer.” Slow down and take the time to make careful observations. Talk about what you notice, and try to avoid jumping to conclusions and interpretations. Be sure to give enough time for silent looking and thinking.

Work of Art

Number 6 is an early example of Jackson Pollock’s famous “drip” paintings. Made by dripping and pouring painting onto a canvas, the artist makes the act of painting the subject of the work of art.

 

Here, a dense network of black and aluminum paint is streaked, dripped, and poured onto the canvas, with drips and splashes of green, yellow, red, and orange. There is no single focus in this brilliantly composed canvas, creating a dynamic sense of movement, form, and space. Pollock set out to develop a new means of expression. This new style of painting was constructed of layered webs of line and color, created by laying the canvas on the ground and dripping paint onto it with old brushes and sticks, or pouring paint directly from the can. For this painting, Pollock used Duco and aluminum paints—fast-drying, liquid, industrial paints commonly used on automobiles and appliances.

 

Placing his canvases on the floor of his studio so that he could work from all four sides, Pollock dribbled the paint with remarkable control. He once described his work of this period as "energy and motion made visible," comparing his method of painting to the act of choreography. While these drip paintings seem chaotic, there is still an underlying sense of order. Everyone who saw him work remarked on his amazing ability to control the paint and anticipate how it would fall.  Some viewers see the rhythms of nature in his dense webs, while others connect it to the nervous tension of city life. The way the lines fill the composition suggests speed and energy through the quick, forceful application of the paint.  However, the intricate details, such as how the lines rhythmically connect, provide viewers with a lyrical, delicate view inside the dense, lush web of colors and lines.

 

Pollock belonged to a group of artists known as the Abstract Expressionists who strove to uncover their most personal feelings directly through making art. The movement exploded onto the art scene after WWII, with its characteristic energetic application of paint (dripping, smearing, slathering, and flinging). Another aspect of Abstract Expressionism is control versus chance. Although at first glance it seems that a kindergartner could have painted this work, Pollock and his peers cultivated the interplay of skill and unplanned occurrences to determine the painting’s final outcome. Pollock and his fellow artists sought a way to overturn conventional ways of thinking in the wake of a chaotic war.  Through their works of art, they attempted to set new creative parameters using new abstract styles. Pollock stated, “The modern painter cannot express his age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or of any other past culture. Each age finds its own technique.”

Conversation

• Look closely at Number 6, and try to determine the order in which Pollock may have laid down the colors. How can you tell?
• In looking at the complex web of lines, colors, and splatters in Number 6, does any one shape or color stand out to you the most? Is your eye naturally drawn to any place on the canvas? Do you think there is a pattern?
• What colors did Pollock choose for this painting? What mood do you think the colors create when juxtaposed like this?
• If you were describing this painting to someone who had never seen it before, what adjectives would you use? What comparisons would you draw?
• In what ways do the lines and shapes reveal Pollock’s method? In other words, can you tell by looking at the many-colored slashes and tangles of paint how he created them? Would someone who did not know Pollock’s process be able to guess it simply by looking at Number 6?
• Though his compositions may seem chaotic and disorderly to some, Pollock replicated his “action painting” method in almost all of his later works; he was a firm believer in his method, and followed it to a T. When you look at Number 6, do you see chaos or order? Use visual evidence from the painting to inform your answer.
• Unlike earlier artists, who worked in tempera and oils, Pollock used fast-drying, liquid industrial paints that were most commonly used on automobiles and appliances. Why might he have used these types of pigments?

• Consider the composition of this piece, the way Pollock chose to arrange each shape and color on the canvas. How would you describe it? Do you think that there was intentionality behind the composition, or does it feel more random?
• Pollock was well-known for being an expert manipulator and controller of paint, predicting exactly how paint would fall on his canvas and what effect it would have on surrounding strokes. What choices did Pollock make in creating this composition? How are his choices, in making an action painting like Number 6, different than the choices an artist makes when creating a more traditional painting?
• Imagine Pollock working in his studio to create this piece. What advantages do you think his “action painting” technique provided him? Why not use a brush to apply paint in the traditional technique?
• Rather than give his action paintings a descriptive title, Pollock often titled them like this painting, with a number. Why do you think he may have done so? Would your interpretation of the painting change if it had a more descriptive title?
• Pollock and his contemporaries in the Abstract Expressionist movement were best known for overturning the norms and tastes of the art world following World War II. Compare Number 6 to Pollock’s pre-WWII work, such as Man with Hand Plow (1938). Why do you think Abstract Expressionist artwork was so revolutionary?
• Pollock has said, “The modern painter cannot express his age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms…each age finds its own technique.” How might this painting reflect Pollock’s statement?

Subject Matter

In the discipline of Social Studies, students need to be able to think conceptually and differentiate between which patterns and ideas are common across societies. Students need to be able to recognize those ideas— whether economic, social, and or/political—that are not bound by time and place, and how a group’s perspective may affect the historical interpretation of those ideas/principles.

Assessment

In some ways, Abstract Expressionism and Pollock’s revolutionary “action painting” were products of World War II: after such a far-reaching and destructive war, artists felt the need to interpret the world in novel, chaotic ways.

After leading your class in a discussion about Pollock’s Number 6, you can use it as a starting point to understand the many facets of conflict.

Ask students to reflect on how Number 6 reflects conflict. Which aspects of war and conflict might a painting like this speak to? Students can focus on World War II, or on another conflict studied in class.

Then, students should find a primary source that also reflects that aspect of the conflict. They should create a presentation or essay, to be shared with the class at large.

Resources

Resources Available to Order

Check our online collection module for further information.