The size, color palette, and composition of this untitled drawing bear strong similarities to the only drawing Pollock titled, War (also 1947, MMA 1982.147.25), which was inspired by Pablo Picasso’s 1937 mural Guernica. Both War and this drawing focus on a theme of ritual destruction: the bonfire. Here, Pollock also includes a scene of mythic sacrifice. A human form and a birdlike figure holding a knife are silhouetted by the medley of colors and forms spewing from the fire at right. Are the figures present at the scene or conjured by the fire? Whether real or imagined, they transform the senseless carnage of the scene into a narrative that encourages us to reflect on human nature.
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Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right, in black ink): Jackson Pollock 47
the artist, Springs, N.Y. (until d. 1956; his estate, New York, 1956–62); Lee Krasner Pollock, New York (1962–82; her gift to MMA)
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Jackson Pollock," April 5–June 4, 1967, no. 135 (as "Untitled," lent by the estate of the artist).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Jackson Pollock," July 9–September 3, 1967, no. 135.
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "Jackson Pollock: Works on Paper," February 11–March 19, 1968, unnumbered cat. (p. 45; dated 1944, subsequently inscribed 1947, lent by the estate of the artist).
College Park. University of Maryland Art Gallery. "Jackson Pollock: Works on Paper," April 1–22, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. "Jackson Pollock: Works on Paper," May 14–June 16, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Seattle Art Museum. "Jackson Pollock: Works on Paper," July 11–August 18, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Jackson Pollock: Works on Paper," September 8–October 6, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Jackson Pollock: Works on Paper," October 21–November 18, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Waltham, Mass. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University. "Jackson Pollock: Works on Paper," January 20–February 16, 1969, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Jackson Pollock: Drawing into Painting," February 4–March 16, 1980, unnumbered cat. (as "Untitled," c.1943–44, lent by Lee Krasner Pollock, New York).
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. "Jackson Pollock–A Painter's Drawings 1930–1956," January 4–29, 1984, unnum. checklist.
Des Moines Art Center. "Jackson Pollock Drawings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–February 24, 1985, no. 25.
Tokyo. The Shoto Museum of Art. "Drawings Jackson Pollock: Loan Exhibition from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," August 20–September 29, 1985, no. 22 (as "Sheet of Studes," dated c. 1945).
Fukuoka Art Museum. "Drawings Jackson Pollock: Loan Exhibition from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 8–27, 1985, no. 22.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings: Additions to the Collection," May 23–September 29, 1991, no catalogue.
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. "Abstract Expressionism: Works on Paper, Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 11–June 4, 1995, no. 46.
Berlin. Deutsche Guggenheim. "No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock, Paintings on Paper," January 29–April 10, 2005, unnumbered cat. (pl. 48).
Venice. Peggy Guggenheim Collection. "No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock, Paintings on Paper," June 4–September 18, 2005, unnumbered cat.
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock, Paintings on Paper," May 26–September 26, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Francis Valentine O'Connor and Eugene Victor Thaw, ed. Jackson Pollock: A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Drawings, and Other Works. Vol. 3, Drawings, 1930–1956. New Haven, 1978, p. 238, no. 741, ill., date it ca. 1945; note that the date on the work could be read 43 or 47.
Yoshiaki Tōno. Pollock. Tokyo, 1985, p. 80, ill.
Lisa Messinger. Abstract Expressionism: Works on Paper, Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, 1995, p. 79, no. 46, ill. (color).
Jackson Pollock (American, Cody, Wyoming 1912–1956 East Hampton, New York)
ca. 1950
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