Jackson POLLOCK | Totem lesson 2

Jackson POLLOCK
 United States of America 1912 – 1956

Totem lesson 2 1945 oil on canvas
OT 122
signed and dated l.r., oil, "Jackson Pollock/ 45"
182.8 (h) x 152.4 (w) cm
Framed 185.8 (h) x 155.8 (w) x 6.2 (d) cm Purchased 1986 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
NGA 1986.1046 © Pollock/Krasner Foundation/ARS. Licensed by Viscopy

  • the artist;
  • by whom given to his wife Lee Krasner Pollock in 1945, who held it until her death in 1984;
  • to the Trustees of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation;
  • from whom bought through Jason McCoy, New York, by the Australian National Gallery, February 1986
  • Jackson Pollock
    • 19 Mar 1945 – 14 Apr 1945
  • A Retrospective Show of the Paintings of Jackson Pollock
    • Bennington College 17 Nov 1952 – 30 Nov 1952
    • Lawrence Art Museum 01 Dec 1952 – 21 Dec 1952
  • 15 Years of Jackson Pollock
    • Sidney Janis Gallery 28 Nov 1955 – 31 Dec 1955
  • Jackson Pollock
    • The Museum of Modern Art 19 Dec 1956 – 03 Feb 1957
  • Pollock
    • IV Bienal, San Paolo 22 Sep 1957 – 31 Dec 1957
  • Jackson Pollock: 1912-1956
    • Museo Nazionale d'Arte 01 Mar 1958 – 30 Mar 1958
    • Kunsthalle, Basel 19 Apr 1958 – 26 May 1958
    • Stedelijk Museum 06 Jun 1958 – 07 Jul 1958
    • Kunsthalle, Hamburg 19 Jul 1958 – 21 Aug 1958
    • Hochscule f³r Bildende K³nste 03 Sep 1958 – 05 Oct 1958
    • Whitechapel Art Gallery 05 Nov 1958 – 14 Dec 1958
    • MusÚe National d'Art Moderne 16 Jan 1959 – 15 Feb 1959
  • Jackson Pollock
    • Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf 05 Sep 1961 – 08 Oct 1961
  • Jackson Pollock
    • Moderna Museet 1963-02- – 1963-04-
  • Jackson Pollock
    • Marlborough - Gerson Gallery Inc., 1964-01- – 1964-02-
  • Jackson Pollock
    • The Museum of Modern Art 05 Apr 1967 – 04 Jun 1967
    • Los Angeles County Museum of Art 19 Jul 1967 – 03 Sep 1967
  • Surrealism: Revolution by Night
    • National Gallery of Australia 12 Mar 1993 – 02 May 1993
    • Queensland Art Gallery 21 May 1993 – 11 Jul 1993
    • Art Gallery of New South Wales 30 Jul 1993 – 19 Sep 1993
  • Jackson Pollock: A Retrospective
    • The Museum of Modern Art 01 Nov 1998 – 02 Feb 1999
    • Tate 11 Mar 1999 – 06 Jun 1999
  • Jackson Pollock's Blue poles
    • National Gallery of Australia 04 Oct 2002 – 27 Jan 2003
  • Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning and American Art, 1940-1976
    • Jewish Museum New York 02 May 2008 – 21 Sep 2008
    • Saint Louis Art Museum 19 Oct 2008 – 11 Jan 2009
    • Albright-Knox Art Gallery 13 Feb 2009 – 16 Jun 2009
  • Jackson Pollock: a centennial retrospective
    • Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art 11 Nov 2011 – 22 Jan 2012
    • National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo 10 Feb 2012 – 06 May 2012
  • Abstract Expressionism: the National Gallery of Australia celebrates the centenaries of Jackson Pollock and Morris Louis
    • 14 Jul 2012 – 24 Feb 2013
  • Maude Riley, 'Jackson Pollock', Art Digest vol. 19 no. 13, April 1945, p. 59;

  • Clement Greenberg, review, Nation, 7 April 1945, p. 397;
  • Clement Greenberg, review, Nation, 13 April 1946, p. 445;
  • Jackson Pollock, 'My painting', Possibilities vol. 1 no. 1, Winter 1947–48, p. 83, illus. b&w;
  • Clement Greenberg, 'The situation at the moment', Partisan Review vol. 15 no. 1, January 1948, pp. 80–84, illus. b&w;
  • Herbert Read, Art now, first published London: Faber and Faber 1933, Totem lesson 2, titled as Totem lesson 1, reproduced 1948 edition, fig. 121, Glasgow: University Press and subsequent editions;
  • Hal Burton, 'Jackson Pollock: He paints as he pleases', Newsday, 1 December 1950, p. 49, illus. b&w;
  • Leo Steinberg, 'Month in review', Arts vol. 30 no. 3, December 1955, pp. 43–44;
  • Dore Ashton, review, Arts and Architecture vol. 73, January 1956, p. 10, illus. b&w;
  • Filiberto Menna, 'L' "Astrattismo romantico" di Jackson Pollock', Commentari vol. 9 no. 3, August–September 1958, illus. fig. 2;
  • Sam Hunter, Modern American painting and sculpture, New York: Dell Publishing Co. 1959, p. 144;
  • Frank O'Hara, Jackson Pollock, New York: George Braziller 1959, p. 21, illus. pl. 23;
  • Bryan Robertson, Jackson Pollock, London: Thames and Hudson; New York: Harry N. Abrams 1960, pp. 23, 137;
  • Werner Haftmann, Painting in the twentieth century, 2 vols, New York: Frederick A. Praeger 1961, vol. 2, p. 496, London: Lund Humphries 1965, vol. 2, p. 364, illus. fig. 897;
  • Simone Frigerio, 'Les Expositions à l'étranger: Zurich, Pollock', Aujourd'hui: art et architecture no. 34, December 1961, pp. 60–61, illus. b&w;
  • Dore Ashton, The unknown shore: A view of contemporary art, Boston, Toronto: Little, Brown and Co. 1962, pp. 45–48, illus. b&w;
  • Robert L. Delevoy, Dimensions of the twentieth century, Cleveland, Ohio: World Publishing Co. 1965, p. 213 illus. col.;
  • Barbara Rose, American art since 1900, New York: Frederick A. Praeger; London: Thames and Hudson [1968], pp. 172–73, illus. b&w pl. 6–21;
  • 'Art with a "Life of its own"', Christian Science Monitor, 20 April 1967, p. 13, illus. b&w;
  • Harold Rosenberg, Artworks and packages, New York: Horizon Press, London: Thames and Hudson 1969, p. 64, illus. b&w;
  • Werner Haftmann, 'Masters of gestural Abstraction', in Art since mid-century, 2 vols, Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society 1971, vol. 1, pp. 13–49, illus. pl. 3;
  • Sam Hunter, American art of the twentieth century, New York: Harry N. Abrams 1972, p. 164 illus. b&w;
  • Judith Wolfe, 'Jungian aspects of Jackson Pollock's imagery', Artforum vol. 11 no. 3, November 1972, pp. 65–73;
  • B.H. Friedman, Jackson Pollock: Energy made visible, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1972, pp. 76, 100;
  • Ellen Johnson, 'Jackson Pollock and nature', Studio International vol. 185 no. 966, June 1973, pp. 257–62, illus. b&w;
  • Francis Valentine O'Connor and Eugene Victor Thaw, Jackson Pollock: A catalogue raisonné of paintings, drawings and other works, 4 vols, New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1978, vol. 1, pp. 118, 119, illus. no. 122;
  • Stewart Buettner, American art theory 1945–1970, Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press 1981, pp. 84–85, illus. b&w;
  • Rosalind E. Krauss, Passages in modern sculpture, Cambridge, Mass. and London: MIT Press 1981, p. 152, illus. b&w;
  • Elizabeth Frank, Jackson Pollock, New York: Abbeville Press 1983, pp. 51, 54, illus. b&w;
  • Sam Hunter and John Jacobus, Modern art: From Post-Impressionism to the present, New York: Harry N. Abrams 1985, p. 268, illus. b&w;
  • Annual report 1985/86, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia 1986, p. 31, illus., col;
  • America: Art and the West, Sydney: The American–Australian Foundation for the Arts and the International Cultural Corporation of Australia Ltd. 1986, n.p., illus. col., listed as cat. 65 but not included in exhibition;
  • Michael Desmond, 'Recent acquisitions', Australian National Gallery Association News, November–December 1986, pp. 4–5, illus. b&w;
  • W. Jackson Rushing, 'Ritual and myth: Native American culture and Abstract Expressionism', in Maurice Tuchman et al., The spiritual in art: Abstract painting 1890–1985, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art 1986, pp. 273–312, illus. b&w;
  • Ellen G. Landau, Jackson Pollock, New York: Harry N. Abrams 1989, pp. 137, 139, illus. col.;
  • Michael Lloyd and Michael Desmond, European and American paintings and sculptures 1870–1970 in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1992, pp. 230–35, 243–44, illus. col.;
  • An introduction to the National Gallery of Australia,Canberra: National Gallery of Australia 1992, p. 68, illus. col. pp. 68–69;
  • Australian National Gallery Association News, May–June 1992, p. 5, illus. b&w;
  • Michael Lloyd, Ted Gott, Christopher Chapman, Surrealism: Revolution by night, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia 1993, pp. 67, 325, cat. 243, illus. p. 69;
  • Kirk Varnedoe and Pepe Karmel, Jackson Pollock: New approaches, New York: The Museum of Modern Art 1998, pp. 84–86, 150;
  • Kirk Varnedoe and Pepe Karmel, Jackson Pollock: A retrospective, New York: The Museum of Modern Art 1998, p. 191, illus. col. pl. 82;
  • Jeremy Lewison, Interpreting Pollock, London: Tate Gallery Publishing 1999, p. 39, illus. col.;
  • Michael Lloyd, Jackson Pollock, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia 1999, pp. 1–4, illus. col. (reprint);
  • Michael Lloyd, ‘Jackson Pollock’ in artonview no. 18, Winter 1999, pp. 17–24, illus. col.;
  • Michael Desmond, ‘Return of the native’, Art Monthly Australia no. 117, March 1999, pp. 15–17, illus. b&w;
  • Jeanne Siegel, ‘Materiality is the message’, Art Journal vol. 58 no. 2, Summer 1999, pp. 109–12;
  • Aurélie Barnier, ‘Une Revue de l’Expressionnisme Abstrait américain: Possibilities (1947–48)’, Cahiers du Musée National d'Art Moderne no. 71, Spring 2000, pp. 104–21, illus. b&w;
  • Les Murray, The full dress: An encounter with the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia 2002, p. 61, illus. col.;
  • Anthony White (ed.), Jackson Pollock’s Blue poles, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia 2002, cat. 4, p. 117, illus. p. 99;
  • Sasha Grishin, ‘A collection of masterpieces’, in Pauline Green (ed.), Building the collection, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia 2002, p. 228, illus. col.;
  • Collectionhighlights, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, p. 236, illus. col.;
  • Norman L. Kleeblatt (ed.), Action/abstraction : Pollock, de Kooning, and American art, 1940–1976 , New York: Jewish Museum; New Haven: Yale University Press 2008, p. 236, illus col. pl. 5, p. 48;
  • Jackson Pollock: a centennial exhibition, Tokyo: Yomiuri Shimbun 2011, cat. 8, pp. 74–75, illus. col.

As the title implies, this is the second of two paintings with the same title. Totem lesson 1 was completed in October 1944.[1] Totem lesson 2 was finished in the first few months of 1945. Both paintings were exhibited in Pollock's second solo exhibition which opened at the Art of This Century Gallery on 19 March 1945.

The title evokes the contemporary enthusiasm for American Indian art and it has been suggested that the central motif is probably a painterly variation of the hard‑edge Sky Father image in a Navajo sand painting that was illustrated in Indian art of the United States, the catalogue of an exhibition staged at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1941. Pollock may well have had such an image in mind when he painted Totem lesson 2. According to Pollock, however, such influences were loose and associational. 'Some people find references to American Indian art and calligraphy in parts of my pictures', Pollock said in 1944, 'that wasn't intentional; probably was the result of early memories and enthusiasms'.[2]

In the same statement, published in Arts and Architecture in February 1944, Pollock went on to identify his enthusiasm for French art of the twentieth century: ‘I am particularly impressed with their concept of the source of art being the unconscious. This idea interests me more than these specific painters do, for the two artists I admire most, Picasso and Miró, are still abroad.’[3] Indeed, Totem lesson 2may register the impact of Surrealism.

In the final analysis, such comparisons accentuate the distinctiveness of Pollock's mode of painting in Totem lesson 2. At first it comprised a large central image painted in oil, occupying most of the picture space. Before the paint was dry, Pollock began editing the composition using grey house paint, paring away the central figure to a hovering spectre surrounded by swirling splinters of the original design. The normal ground–figure relationship is reversed—the image is literally disclosed in the process of painting. Finally, returning to oil paint, Pollock animated the composition with abstract, expressive notations such as the wriggling, yellow line, applied directly from the tube, in the upper right.

In his reviews of Pollock's second solo exhibition at Art of This Century Gallery—which included both Totem lesson paintings—the art critic Clement Greenberg made extraordinary claims for the 32‑year‑old artist:

Jackson Pollock's second one‑man show at Art of This Century … establishes him, in my opinion, as the strongest painter of his generation and perhaps the greatest one to appear since Miró … Those who find his oils overpowering are advised to approach him through his gouaches, which in trying less to wring every possible ounce of intensity from every square inch of surface achieve greater clarity and are less suffocatingly packed than the oils. Among the latter however, are two—both called Totem lessons—for which I cannot find strong enough words of praise.[4]

Michael Lloyd and Michael Desmond, European and American Paintings and Sculptures 1870–1970 in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1992, pp. 232–35, 243–44, revised Anthony White 2002

[1]Francis Valentine O’Connor and Eugene Victor Thaw, Jackson Pollock: A catalogue raisonné of paintings, drawings and other works,4 vols, New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1978, vol. 1, p. 114, cat. 121. Totem lesson 1is signed and dated l.l., “10–44 Jackson Pollock”; collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, Atherton, California.

[2]Arts and Architecture (Los Angeles), February 1944, p. 14

[3]Arts and Architecture, p. 14

[4] Clement Greenberg, review, Nation,7 April 1945, p. 39

As well as the two paintings by Pollock, Totem Lesson 2 1945 and Blue poles 1952, the National Gallery of Australia holds six drawings from the 1930s and 1940s, and two sets of prints: six intaglio prints c. 1944, printed 1967, and six screenprints 1950.