Jackson Pollock: An American Saga

First published in 1989, this Pulitzer Prize winner and onetime bestseller is the ultimate biography of a famous tortured soul. And it’s a fantastic read, too. Taking what I call “the Michener approach,” the authors leave no stone unturned in their quest to explore and explain Jackson Pollock. They begin with the migrations of his ancestors to the new world, and include the fruits of nine years of research, over 800 interviews and a vast bibliography of other works on the artist, his family, his times, and his fellow artists. Even at 800 pages, not counting another 100 pages of annotations and appendices, I had difficulty putting the thing down. The story is not only a thrilling saga of family and art, and a sad tale of a genius show more vs. madness, but it’s also a fascinating picture of an American art world finally finding its identity outside the shadow of Europe. Highly recommended. show less

a powerful artist and a very troubled man. this is very good biography. such a destructive man then wanted not to be that way. the marriage to Lee was hell for both of them a hell that they wanted to escape but were unable to do so.

Hello, Steve and Greg!
When I lived in Manhattan, I transcribed research for this book for them. If you want stories, you'll have to get me tiddly first. Boy, some heavy duty research went into this. I've had carpal tunnel surgery as a result. Lee Krasner died while I was working on this project and Steve told me I was probably the foremost expert on her at that time. I'll put that on my resume. That and a pickled onion ... This is a tome. (Boy, once I learn a bit of html I'm dangerous!) It's not a beach read. A huge amount of effort went into it. Now, if only they'd put as much into How To Make Love To a Woman. Vaseline, boys? Vaseline??!!

Based on family letters and documents, lengthy interviews with his widow, Lee Krasner, as well as his psychologists and psychoanalysts, this book explodes the myths surrounding his death in 1956. 12 color and 175 black-and-white photos and reproductions.