In his final letter to his father in 1933, Jackson called Benton “the most important Contemporary American painter.” Ironically, that was the kind of praise that would eventually be applied to Pollock himself in a few years. Even though they disagreed about styles and philosophies, Benton would remain an unwavering supporter of Pollock. Benton involved his family and friends in Monday night ensembles. He himself played the harmonica and developed an original system of musical notation for harmonica which is still used (55). He also taught Pollock the basics of playing the harmonica, which the young artist never mastered.
Benton used Pollock as a model for some of his paintings. For example, Pollock posed for the sketch used for the harmonica player in The Ballad of the Jealous Lover on Lone Green Valley (1934). The sketch and the mural are presently at the University of Kansas Museum of Art. The sketch is signed ‘Portrait of Jack Pollock as a young man. Benton.’ (It is said in some biographies nobody called the artist ‘Jack’ except his close family.) By 1934, Benton was, in effect, already part of Jack’s extended family. Pollock said, “My work with Benton was important as something against which to react very strongly, later on… Better to have worked with him than with a less resistant personality who would have provided a much less strong opposition.”[34]
Concerning major early influences of Pollock’s art, nearly all resources mention the importance of Benton, as does the Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, for example (27). Most sources also mention the importance of the Mexican muralist, Siqueiros. However, very few resources mention Siqueiros and the Navaho sand paintings. John Walker, the curator emeritus of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., mentions those two major influences, but does not mention the Benton influence on Pollock’s early art (118).
Number 11A, 1948, 1948. Oil, enamel and aluminium paint on canvas, 167.6 × 83.8 cm, Private Collection.
Number 14, Gray, 1948. Enamel on gesso on paper, 57.8 × 78.8 cm, Yale University Gallery of Art, New Haven, Connecticut.
The influence of the master Benton on the early styles of Charles and Jackson is obvious in the young men’s early efforts, but in Jackson’s it became less obvious as he matured. In the Ed Harris movie, Pollock, observant viewers will notice the reproduction of a work by Charles, very much in the style of Benton. It is seen hanging on the older Pollock’s kitchen wall.
American Art
“The modern artist, it seems to me, is working and expressing an inner world – in other words – expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces.”[35]
There is a widely accepted opinion that the movement championed by the British scholar, Sir Herbert Read, and which gave American painting a new international status, did not originate in America or begin with Pollock. This theme is repeated throughout Read’s final work, Concise History of Modern Art (109). His work was written only months after Pollock’s death. Read lacked the advantage of hindsight, yet his early statements are valuable at least for that reason, as they had not yet been influenced by many other commentaries.
Read said, “It is impossible to establish national boundaries for modern painting.” He then quoted Pollock, from his famous reply in 1944 to a questionnaire published in Arts and Architecture. “The idea of an isolated American painting,” Pollock said, “seems absurd to me just as the idea of purely American mathematics or physics would seem absurd… The basic problems of contemporary painting are independent of any country.” (83) Even so, no less than the distinguished John Walker said, “Pollock was the most original painter America has produced.” (118)
The Need for an American Artist
In a 1991 interview with the Willem de Kooning biographers, Milton Resnick summed up the need in American art circles during Pollock’s day to have a great authentic American artist. It was the advent of Pollock’s entrance as the American artist they had been waiting for, but they were most likely not expecting a cowboy. He was, de Kooning thought, “the American glamour boy in art. …who were they going to go to – a Dutchman, an Italian, a Jew, a Greek? Where’s the American? He filled the bill.”[36] De Kooning later recalled: “Pollock was the leader.” He was the painting cowboy, the first to get recognition. Peggy Guggenheim was crazy about him. She bought things from him during the war recalled de Kooning[37]. However, some post-mortem ‘revenge’ could be offered as, for example, in 2005 when de Kooning’s Sailcloth (1949), made before his famous satirical Woman series began, was expected to sell for $9-$12 million at Christie’s[38].
The Movie: Pollock
Reference is made here to the Ed Harris movie several times because it follows the authoritative tome by Naifeh & Smith to which Harris had obtained the movie rights. However, the movie is a biographical entertainment which obviously isn’t a documentary. In contrast, the Hans Namuth 1950 ‘documentary’ film, supposedly showing the typical work method of Pollock, might be more acting and posing than cinéma vérité. The award-winning Harris movie is widely known. In its review of the best movies of the year 2000, Time Magazine notes Ed Harris “never lets his exhibitions of Pollock’s inexplicable gift soften or redeem the artist’s monstrousness.” The review concludes there has never been a more biographical film of an anti-hero than this one. However, have there been many artists since Beethoven with a greater contrast between the depressed artist and his inspirational art?
However, not all critics praise the film without reservation. Walsh and other critics believe the historical dimension of Pollock’s life is absent in Harris’ film. Some critics feel the film is much too narrow in its approach and fails to address many factors which influenced his life and work. While it deals with psychological issues and his response to social situations, it does not present his political history and social aspirations which surely also had to have a profound impact on his life[39].
Ed Harris began painting in the early 1990s, which certainly helped prepare him to play the role of Pollock so convincingly, especially during the painting scenes. In an interview Harris explains, “I’ve been painting and drawing off and on since I became committed to making this film. I had a little studio built so I’d have enough floor space to work on larger canvases.” (45). Walsh observes the Harris movie is “so narrowly focused and so limited in its approach that the most essential truths about Pollock and his circumstances are permitted to escape.”
Marcia Gay Harden was given the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role as Krasner, but some critics agree with those who felt Harris should have been given an Oscar for directing, if not also for lead actor.
Before the Harris movie, a film referring to Pollock’s life was being thought of. It might have starred Robert De Niro (as Pollock) and Barbra Streisand (as Krasner) but it did not develop[40].
In the Harris movie, Harden, not a native of Brooklyn like Streisand, very effectively takes on a Brooklyn accent, especially for the early scenes of the movie.
Number 26A, 1948: Black and White, 1948. Enamel on canvas, 208 × 121.7 cm, Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
Number 28, 1950, 1950. Oil, enamel and aluminium paint on canvas, 172.7 × 266.7 cm, Collection Muriel Kallis Newman, Chicago.
The famous Life photo of a hostile-looking Pollock foreshadows the attitudes of the roles of restless rebels (with or without causes) played by actors.