Paul Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912, Cody Wyoming, U.S. He was the youngest of his fifth brothers. When Jackson was growing up his family moved all over the westeren states, usually from one farm or ranch to another. Mrs. Pollock always preferred to see her sons doing art, no matter how much work needed to be done. Jackson's family moved to Janesville, California when he was eight years old. A lot of American Indians lived there. An Indian woman who helped take care of Jackson and his brothers often tolded them Indian stories and legends. Jackson was just beginning high school, when his oldest brother, Charles was in New York City, studying to be an artist. When Jackson was eighteen, Charles returned for a home vist and took Jackson with him to New York to be an artist. Jackson entered the same art school as Charles, and had the same teacher, Thomas Hart Benton. Thomas was already a famous American artist. Jackson Pollock assisted Thomas Benton on some of his murals by mixing paints, cleaning the studio, and posing. Now that Jackson knew how to make large paintings, he tried making his painting look like Thomas Benton's. But he couldn't give his paintings the feeling that Thomas Benton would give his paintings. Jackson had a lot of trouble drawing things. Jackson would often become upset and angry, but teachers kept working with him, because they knew how much he wanted the be an artist. Jackson decided to join the workshop of a famous Mexican mural painter. David Siqueriros and his friends were trying out new ways to paint and new types of paint. They mixed the paint used for cars with oil colors. They would pour their mixtures onto large canvas and spary-painted different places just to see what would happen. Jackson had noticed how beautiful yet interesting shapes were being created. Working at Siqueiros' workshop, helped Jackson come up with his own type of artwork without knowing how to draw perfectly. In 1945, he bought a farmhouse and married his girlfriend, Lee Krasner. Lee was an artist, too. Jackson Pollock died at the age of forty-four in a car accident August 11, 1956, East Hmpton, New York. His artwork became really popular from 1967 to 1999.