Joann Moser, Senior Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and one-time curator at the University of Iowa, has studied Pollock's works and spent a plethora of time with his largest work titled "Mural"- which was displayed at the Des Moines Art Center this summer on loan from the University of Iowa.
 |
| 'Mural' - Oil on canvas, Jackson Pollack |
 |
| 'For and Eye, an Eye' -Intaglio, Mauricio Lasansky |
Atelier 17 was a print-making studio that started in Paris and moved to New York (where Pollock studied) after the outbreak of WWII. The studio was started by an English artist named Stanley William Hayter, who's vast influence is connected to many other famous 20th century artists besides Pollock. While at Atelier 17 Pollock jumped into the medium of intaglio and made seven engravings and found a new and important perspective.
Intaglio is a form of print making where artists use metal tools to etch, mark, and/or engrave a plate that holds the ink for the print. After the ink is applied and wiped away from the areas intended to provide negative space, the plate and paper are then sent through a rolling press which transfers the ink and visible indentations onto the paper. Some intaglio artists, like Mauricio Lasansky (who too created works under Hayter's influence) would also use acid to etch into soft metal plates - which was his preferred material- thereby creating deep pools of ink for the paper to absorb. Lasansky used these jet-black ink pools to create dark moods for some of his works that are thought to reflect his feelings toward the Holocaust (like 'For an Eye, an Eye).
Pollock's intaglio prints are not impressive (nor do I find them particularly entertaining- in fact they are almost childlike because they lack the overwhelming complexity that his paintings possess) but this phase in his art career was an important step in order for him to make abstract expressionism his own and by examining his intaglio works this becomes very clear.
In her lecture, Moser said that it was while working at Atelier 17 that Pollock showed important growth and without this experience he may never have become the artist we know him for today. According to MoMA "Hayter’s personal engraving style, based on improvisation and chance, influenced Jackson Pollock, who made seven engravings with Hayter in 1944–5" (even though Pollock later denounced chance as part of his art, stating/believing that he could control the chaos of drip/splatter painting).
In 'Untitled', Moser pointed out the places where burrs made by inexperience and his tools forced Pollock to make something artistic of the accidents, thus introducing chance and feeding his improvisation. After examining the print up close I can attest to the changed in style that Pollock shows in this piece as opposed to his earlier "organized chaos" work 'Mural'.
 |
| 'Untitled' - Intaglio, Jackson Pollock |
-CK
