MoMA
“Number 1A, 1948”, Jackson Pollock (1948)
In the middle of the chaotic collage of colors of Number 1a, 1948, a shade of blue intrigued the experts. Its origin was finally unraveled.
The great work Number 1A, 1948 of the American painter Jackson Pollock It uses a vibrant blue tone that was so far unknown.
Recently, a team of researchers who analyzed the paint used by the famous painter directly from the screen at the New York Museum of Modern Art (Moma) found that it is pure manganese blue.
This paint was popular in the 1940s, but was no longer produced in the 1990s.
Pollock, whose paintings are famous for the abstract and vibrant chaos that spreads through huge screens, created his works with the so -called “drip technique”, Method in which the artist lets the ink drain or lies it on the screen, creating Intense color splashes – Interestingly, using.
Today, many of these works are in art museums around the world, note a.
One of these salpics, however, remained a mystery For almost 80 years: a Blue Tone Present in Number 1a, 1948which remained unidentified until the investigators team analyzed a scoop of the work exposed at MoMA in New York.
After analyzing the ink with various laboratory techniques, including the use of laser to disperse light and measure the vibrations of the ink molecules, the data allowed the team Determine the “chemical impression” of the shade of blue, identifying it as manganese blue. The investigators published the results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
O manganese blueIn the past, it was not a mystery. Widely used, not only in art, but also in the coloring of cement for swimming pools, it was eventually abandoned due to worries ambientaiS, becoming obsolete in the 1990s. His presence in a pollicock painting returns notoriety.
“It’s very interesting realize where such a striking color shade comes from at the molecular level, ”he said Edward Solomonstudy co -author and researcher at Stanford University, a.
Previous investigations had highlighted the shades of red and yellow That make up the central palette of the painting, almost three meters wide, but, as the researchers wrote, “one of their most iconic action paintings” had not yet identified that specific shade of blue.
Raman spectroscopy allowed it to be pure manganese blue, probably removed directly from a paint containeras Pollock liked to do instead of mixing shades.
Known as “shoot and drip diluted enamel paint On a screen not stretched on the floor of your studio, ”the New York painter incorporated speed and improvisation into his artistic process, note o.
The essence of your works, sometimes called “drip paintings“And other times” poured paintings “(” spilled paintings “, in free translation), was both paint and painting itself.
“When I’m painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing“Pollock said,” I’m not afraid to change, destroy the image, etc., because painting has a life of its own. “
Inspired by Navajo sand paintingsAsian calligraphy and the most violent works of Pablo Picasso, Pollock created its own style, later designated abstract expressionismusing paint techniques directly on screens not stretched on the studio floor.
Pollock dripped and throwing layers of paint on the screen, sometimes using knives, sticks, spatulas and other instruments to spread the paint directly from the container. His style was consolidated around 1947, leading to the creation of monumental Number 1A, 1948.
Married to the artist also Lee Krasner In 1945, Pollock died at the age of 44 in 1956 in a car accident near his home in East Hampton, New York. Krasner continued to promote his work and build his legacy, including the Donation of important works to the Pollock collection do MoMA.
It is in this museum that Number 1a, 1948, known for the size, action and color, remains, with the painter’s fingerprints themselves next to the top of the screen.
