For a short time, arguably two of the greatest American painters of the twentieth century can be seen simultaeneously in Paris and London. After his death in 1955, Jackson Pollock, the painter’s painter and epitome of Abstract Expressionism, left a legacy of splattered works to be mimicked endlessly and re-appropriated. The legendary show at the Whitechapel in 1958, organized by the director Bryan Robertson, first brought his large works to Britain. The exhibition, which has come from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, includes his most famous dripped “field” paintings, as well as intruiging experiments with figuration, including his optically dazzling cut-out figures of 1948-50.
Originally appeared in the Art Newspaper as '“Jackson Pollock”, Tate Gallery, London, until 6 June'