Number 23, 1951
Artist
Jackson Pollock
(American, 1912-1956)
CultureAmerican
Date1951
MediumEnamel on canvas
Dimensions58 1/2 × 47 in. (148.6 × 119.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 3/4 × 49 1/4 × 2 1/4 in. (154.3 × 125.1 × 5.7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 3/4 × 49 1/4 × 2 1/4 in. (154.3 × 125.1 × 5.7 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower right: Jackson Pollock 51
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number83.592
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 223
Label TextJackson Pollock American, 1912–1956 Number 23, 1951, 1951 Enamel on canvas Jackson Pollock gained international acclaim by dripping paint directly onto canvas to create immensely colorful works. In 1951, he temporarily turned away from his signature technique to make a group of exclusively black “pourings.” Here, thinned enamel paint, flung or squirted from a large basting syringe, seeped into the unprimed canvas and dried very slowly, blending and combining the artist’s gestural swirls. While some previous works had been non-representational—complete abstractions—Pollock’s black paintings often included mysterious figures from his subconscious, like the face, breasts, or hands seen here. This work, thus, shows his interest in psychology, as well as his ongoing experiments with the materials and processes of painting. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 83.592 ProvenanceMartha Jackson, acquired from the artist, 1954; Martha Jackson Gallery for the Estate of Martha Jackson; Parke Bernet Galleries sale, New York, Nov. 18, 1970 (lot 6); Harry W. Anderson, Atherton, Calif., 1970; M. Knoedler and Co., New York; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to The Chrysler Museum, 1983. Exhibition History"Jackson Pollock," Betty Parson Gallery, New York, N.Y., November 26 - December 15, 1951. (Exh. cat. no. 23). "Jackson Pollock, 1948-1951," Studio Paul Fracchetti, Paris, France, March 7 - 31, 1952. (Exh. cat. ill. last page). "Opening Exhibition of New Martha Jackson Gallery: Paintings and Sculpture," Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, N.Y., January - February, 1956. "Contemporary American Painting," Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Md., 1957. "New Images of Man," Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y., September 30 - November 29, 1959; Baltimore Museum of Art, Md., 1960. (Exh. cat. no. 58) "Selections 1934 - 1961: Selections from the Collection of Martha Jackson," Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, N.Y., February 6 - March 3, 1962. (Exh. cat. p. 19) "Circus Arts," Museum of Contemporary Arts, Dallas, Tex., 1962. "Black and White," The Jewish Museum, New York, N.Y., December 12, 1963 - February 5, 1964. "Jackson Pollock," a retrospective exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y., April - September, 1967. (Exh. cat. no. 23) "Important Contemporary Paintings and Sculpture," Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, N.Y., November 13 - 18, 1970. (Exh. cat. no. 6) "Excellence: Art from the University Community," University of California, Berkeley, Calif., November 1970 - January 1971. "Three Hundred Years of American Art in The Chrysler Museum," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Jackson Pollock: The Black Pourings 1951-1953," Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Mass., May 6 - June 29, 1980. "American Figure Painting: 1950-1980," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., October 16 - November 30, 1980. (Exh. cat. p. 11) "From Veneziano to Pollock: Ten Masterworks," Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., May 18 - June 24, 1984. (Exh. cat. pp. 29-31) "Founders and Heirs of the New York School," Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, January - August, 1997. "Jackson Pollock in Venice," Museo Correr, Venice, Italy, March 23 - June 30, 2002. "Action/Abstraction: Pollock, deKooning, and American Art, 1940-1976," St. Louis Art Museum, Missouri, October 19, 2008 - January 11, 2009 and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, February 13 - May 31, 2009. (Extended to June 16, 2009) "Angels, Demons, and Savages: Pollock, Ossorio, and Dubuffet," The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, February 9 - May 12, 2013, and the Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY, July 21 - October 27, 2013. “Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots,” Tate Liverpool, England, June 30 – October 18, 2015; Dallas Museum of Art, November 15, 2015 – March 20, 2016.Published ReferencesIntroduction by Alfonso Ossorio, _Jackson Pollock_, exh. cat., Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, N.Y., 1951, 17, no. 23. Introduction by Alfonso Ossorio, essay by Michel Tapie, _Jackson Pollock 1948-1951_, exh. cat., Studio Paul Fracchetti, Paris, France, 1952, last page. Frank O'Hara, _Jackson Pollock_ (New York: G. Braziller, 1959), plate 61. *Listed erroneously as Number 32, 1951. Sonya Rudikoff, "Images in Painting," _Arts_ 34 (June 1960): 40. Francis V. O'Connor, _Jackson Pollock_, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y., 1967, 61-62, 64, 115, no. 23. Irving Sandler, _The Triumph of American Painting: A History of Abstract Expressionism_ (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970), 117, fig. 8-13. _Exhibition & Sale at the Parke-Bernet Galleries_, auction cat., New York, N.Y., November 18, 1970, Sale no. 3118, 10, no. 6. E. Mayer, editor, _International Auction Records 1971_ (Paris: Editions Mayer, 1971), 717. Francis V. O'Connor and Eugene Victor Thaw, _Pollock: A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Drawings, and Other Works_ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978), 153, no. 335. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 224. Thomas Wayne Stryon, _American Figure Painting, 1950-1980_, exh. cat., The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1980, 11. Francis V. O'Connor, _Jackson Pollock: The Black Pourings, 1951-1953_, exh. cat., Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Mass., 1980, 10-11, 13, 30. E.A. Carmean, Jr., "The Church Project: Pollock's Passion Themes," _Art in America_ LXX (June 1982): 121-122. Thomas W. Sokolowski and Thomas W. Styron, _From Veneziano to Pollock: Masterworks Donated to The Chrysler Museum by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._, exh. cat., The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1984, 29-31. David W. Steadman, "Ten Masterworks!" _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 14 (June 1984). "La Chronique des Arts: Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1984," _Gazette des Beaux-Arts Supplément_ VI Période, Tome CV, no. 1394 (March 1985): 26-75. Frank Stella, _Working Space_ (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1986), 80, fig. 27. Ellen G. Laudau, _Jackson Pollock_ (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1989), 215, 263. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 188, no. 142. Jürgen Harten, _Siqueiros/Pollock, Pollock/Siqueiros_, I, exh. cat., Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany, 1995, 250. Dore Ashton, et al., _Founders and Heirs of the New York School_, exh. cat., Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1997, 103. _Jackson Pollock in Venice: The "Irascibles" and the New York School_, exh. cat., Museo Correr, Venice, Italy, 2002, 127. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 204-205, no. 127. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 75, fig. 85. Edited by Norman L. Kleeblatt, _Action/Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976_, exh. cat., The Jewish Museum, New York City, New York, 2008, 65 pl. 21 . Klaus Ottmann and Dorothy Kosinski, "Angels, Demons, and Savages: Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013) cat. no. 9. Gavin Delahunty, ed., _Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots_ (London: Tate Publishing, 2015). 49, cat. no. 335. Frank Stella, _Working Space: The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, 1983-84_ (Frankfurt: KünstlerSelbstverlag, 2021) 108, fig. 10.
