Jackson Pollock (46 page)

136
.

“to have the painting finished”: letter from JP to Charles Pollock, July 29, 1943,
Catalogue Raisonné
, Vol. 4, p. 228.

137
.

“And where am I?”: interview with Reuben Kadish, 1984.

137
.

“I have it stretched”: ibid.

137
.

“An American is an American”: “Jackson Pollock,”
Arts and Architecture
, (Feb. 1944), p. 14.

138
.

“
She-Wolf
came into existence”: Sidney Janis,
Abstract and Surrealist Art in America
(New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1944), n.p.

139
.

named the painting
Pasiphaë:
interview with James Johnson Sweeney, March 1984. See also William Rubin, “Pollock
as Jungian Illustrator: The Limits of Psychological Criticism,”
Art in America
, Dec. 1979, p. 74.

140
.

“I don’t know how I can face another day”: Jacqueline Bograd Weld,
Peggy: The Wayward Guggenheim
(New York: Dutton, 1986), p. 332.

140
.

“Soby dropped in”: letter from Howard Putzel to JP, n.d.,
Catalogue Raisonné
, Vol. 4, p. 229.

141
.

“a really disciplined painting”: interviews by Francine du Plessix and Cleve Gray,
“Who Was Jackson Pollock?”
Art in America
(May 1967), p. 51.

141
.

“wet with new birth”: Maude Riley, “Fifty-seventh Street in Review,”
Art Digest
, Nov. 15, 1943, p. 18.

141
.

“an authentic discovery”: Robert Coates, “The Art Galleries,”
The New Yorker
, Nov. 20, 1943, p. 97.

141
.

“surprise and fulfillment”: Clement Greenberg, “Art,”
The Nation
, Nov. 27, 1943, p. 621.

143
.

“Jackson’s supposed to deliver”: interview with the artist’s close friend John Little,
Jan. 1984.

144
.

took off his clothes: Peggy Guggenheim,
Out of This Century: Confessions of an Art Addict
(New York: Universe Books, 1979), p. 296.

144
.

“I hate my easel”: interview with Janet Chase, 1984.

145
.

“Lee was very possessive”: Jeffrey Potter,
To a Violent Grave: An Oral Biography of Jackson Pollock
(New York: Putnam, 1985), p. 75.

145
.

“Certain individuals”: Robert Motherwell, “Art Chronicle,”
Partisan Review
(Winter 1944), p. 97.

146
.

“obviously wanted to accept”: “Jackson Pollock; An Artists’ Symposium, Part I,”
Art News
(April 1967), p. 64.

146
.

Alfred Barr . . . felt the price was too high: Sweeney interview.

146
.

“V
ERY HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE
”: This telegram is in the Pollock Archive.

146
.

“I am getting $150 a month”: letter from JP to Charles Pollock, n.d.,
Catalogue Raisonné
, p. 233.

147
.

“talked not about art but about money”: Potter, p. 152.

147
.

Pollock was visited by Benton: Cindy Nemser,
Art Talk
(Scribner’s, 1975), p. 87.

147
.

“Said he liked my stuff”: JP to Louis Bunce, n.d., Bunce papers, Archives of American
Art.

148
.

“Hofmann’s art colony”: Little interview.

148
.

“I have a definite feeling”: “Jackson Pollock,”
Arts and Architecture
p. 14.

148
.

“Pollock? He’s strong!”: interview with Peter Grippe, a friend of the artist, Jan.
1984.

148
.

“We get in for a dip”: JP to his mother and others, n.d.,
Catalogue Raisonné
, p. 234.

149
.

“Lee didn’t think”: interview with Nene Schardt, Aug. 1984.

149
.

“So let us hear from you”: JP to Ed and Wally Strautin, Aug. 25, 1944,
Catalogue Raisonné
, p. 234.

149
.

“I inveigled Jackson”: telephone conversation with Reuben Kadish, 1985.

150
.

“general whirling figures”: J.W.L., “Passing Shows,”
Art News
, Jan. 15, 1942, p. 29.

150
.

went in at night: Grippe interview.

150
.

“Jackson wasn’t very serious”: telephone interview with Theodore Wahl, 1984.

152
.

“veil the image”: see Rubin, “Pollock as Jungian Illustrator,” pp. 83–4.

153
.

“People said it just went on and on”: interview with Clement Greenberg, Dec. 1983.

153
.

“match the French”: ibid.

154
.

“the strongest painter of his generation”: Clement Greenberg, “Art,”
The Nation
, April 7, 1945.

154
.

“I really don’t get”: Maude Riley,
Art Digest
, April 1, 1945, p. 59.

154
.

“baked macaroni”: Parker Tyler,
View
(May 1945).

155
.

“this lovely person”: Jeffrey Potter,
To a Violent Grave: An Oral Biography of Jackson Pollock
(New York: Putnam, 1985), p. 81.

156
.

“Leave New York?”: Joseph Liss, “Memories of Bonac Painters,”
The East Hampton Star
, Aug. 18, 1983, Sec. II, p. 1.

156
.

“we have no money”: ibid.

157
.

forty dollars: Barbara Rose, “American Great Lee Krasner,”
Vogue
, June 1972, p. 154.

157
.

“Over my dead body”: interviews by Francine du Plessix and Cleve Gray, “Who Was Jackson
Pollock?”
Art in America
(May 1967), p. 50.

157
.

“it was the only way”: Peggy Guggenheim,
Out of This Century: Confessions of an Art Addict
(New York: Universe Books, 1979), p. 316.

158
.

“a place to get a dog license”: Cindy Nemser,
Art Talk
(New York: Scribner’s, 1975), p. 87.

159
.

“I got out the phone book”: interview with May Natalie Tabak Rosenberg, Dec. 1983.

159
.

the second witness: marriage certificate, city clerk’s office, Borough of Manhattan.

160
.

“No coal as yet”: card from JP to Ed and Wally Strautin, n.d.,
Catalogue Raisonné
, Vol. 4, p. 236.

160
.

“I opened the door this morning”: ibid.

160
.

“we really love it here”: letter from JP to Louis Bunce, postmarked Jan. 5, 1946,
Bunce papers, Archives of American Art.

161
.

“He used to drink a lot”: interview with Mrs. Elywin Harris, Jan. 1984.

162
.

“What may at first sight”: Clement Greenberg, “Art,”
The Nation
, April 13, 1946, p. 445.

163
.

“Everyone is going or gone”: letter from JP to Louis Bunce, postmarked June 2, 1946,
Bunce papers, Archives of American Art.

164
.

“Jack would get pie-eyed”: interview with Jay Pollock, July 1983.

164
.

“The work is endless”: letter from JP to Louis Bunce, postmarked June 2, 1946, Bunce
papers, Archives of American Art.

165
.

“pulled a ligament”: card from JP to Ed and Wally Strautin, postmarked June 2, 1946,
Catalogue Raisonné
, Vol. 4, p. 237.

166
.

“one of the intellectual captains”: Saul Bellow, “What Kind of Day Did you Have,”
(New York: Pocket Books, 1985); p. 88.

166
.

“You will wait until I pull over”: Rosenberg interview.

167
.

“go upstairs and take a nap”: ibid.

167
.

“The movement of knife into shell”: John Bernard Myers,
Tracking the Marvelous: A Life in the New York Art World
(New York: Random House, 1983), p. 101.

169
.

“That’s for Clem”: interview with Clement Greenberg, Dec. 1983.

169
.

“Jackson Pollock’s fourth one-man show”: Clement Greenberg, “Art,”
The Nation
, Feb. 1, 1947, p. 137.

170
.

Philip Rahv . . . felt Greenberg was overly dogmatic: William Barrett,
The Truants: Adventures Among the Intellectuals
(Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, Doubleday, 1982), p. 137.

170
.

Delmore Schwartz . . . was suspicious: ibid., p. 152.

170
.

“Give the winner an easel painting”: ibid., p. 147.

171
.

“most powerful painter in America”: “The Best?”
Time
, Dec. 1, 1947, p. 55.

171
.

“Very much an artist”: letter from Benton to John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation,
Nov. 14, 1947, Foundation files.

171
.

“Creative painting”: fellowship application form, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation,
Oct. 14, 1947, Foundation files.

172
.

offering the college a Braque: Jacqueline Bograd Weld,
Peggy: The Wayward Guggenheim
(New York: Dutton, 1986), p. 327.

173
.

“I’m better than all the fucking painters”: telephone interview with Joyce Kootz,
the art dealer’s widow, 1985.

173
.

Steinberg once drew a portrait: Calvin Tompkins, “Profiles: A Keeper of the Treasure,”
The New Yorker
, June 9, 1975, p. 46. See also, Calvin Tompkins,
Off the Wall: Robert Rauschenberg and the Art World of Our Time
(New York: Penguin, 1981), p. 57.

174
.

“dumped in my lap”: Ken Kelley, “Betty Parsons Taught America to Appreciate What It
Once Called ‘Trash’: Abstract Art,”
People
, Feb. 27, 1978, p. 78.

174
.

“a place where art goes on”: Clement Greenberg,
Ten Years
, exhibition catalogue (New York: Betty Parsons Gallery, 1956). Quoted in Tompkins,
Off the Wall
, p. 58.

175
.

“tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on”: Selden Rodman,
Conversations with Artists
(New York: Devin-Adaro, 1957), p. 93.

175
.

“awful” or “terrible”: interviews by Francine du Plessix and Cleve Gray, “Who Was
Jackson Pollock?”
Art in America
(May 1967), p. 55.

175
.

“he wasn’t the sort of artist”: interview with Herbert Ferber, March 1984.

175
.

“I can’t tell you that”: ibid.

175
.

“risky and unfeeling act”: “Personal Statement,”
Tiger’s Eye
(Dec. 1947), p. 44.

176
.

“self contained and sustained advertising concern”: letter from Rothko to Newman,
June 24, 1947, Newman papers, Archives of American Art.

176
.

“Jackson doesn’t need”: telephone conversation with Annalee Newman, the artist’s widow,
October 1984.

177
.

“sullen, intense, miserable”: Du Plessix and Gray, p. 53.

177
.

“always telling me the local news”: ibid., pp. 53–54.

177
.

“There was a desperation about him”: ibid., p. 55.

178
.

“just now getting into painting again”: letter from JP to Louis Bunce, postmarked
Aug. 29, 1947, Bunce papers, Archives of American Art.

178
.

“Every so often”: Rudi Blesh,
Modern Art U.S.A.: Men, Rebellion, Conquest, 1900–56
(New York: Knopf, 1956), p. 253.

178
.

The term was originated by William Rubin: see William Rubin, “Jackson Pollock and
the Modern Tradition: Part One,”
Artforum
(Feb. 1967), p. 19.

179
.

“poured, poured, not dripped”: Jeffrey Schaire, “Was Jackson Pollock Any Good?”
Art & Antiques
(Oct. 1984), p. 85.

180
.

“I don’t have any theories”: JP to
Life
. A transcript of the interview is in the Time, Inc. archive.

182
.

“a lot of swell painting this year”: letter from Stella Pollock to Frank Pollock,
Dec. 11, 1947,
Catalogue Raisonné
, Vol. 4, p. 241.

182
.

only one sold: sales records of the Betty Parsons Gallery, Parsons papers, Archives
of American Art.

182
.

“pick any one you want”: Ferber interview.

182
.

“Since Mondrian”: Clement Greenberg, “Art,”
The Nation
, Jan. 24, 1948, p. 108.

183
.

“a good deal of poetic suggestion”: Robert M. Coates, “The Art Galleries,”
The New Yorker
, Jan. 17, 1948, p. 57.

183
.

“beautiful astronomical effects”: unsigned review,
Art News
(Feb. 1948), p. 59.

183
.

“colorful and exciting”: Alonso Lansford, “Automatic Pollock,”
Art Digest
, Jan. 15, 1948.

183
.

“I am very worried”: letter from Betty Parsons to Peggy Guggenheim, Feb. 26, 1947.
A copy of this letter is in the Parsons papers, Archives of American Art.

183
.

“I am still very worried”: letter from Betty Parsons to Peggy Guggenheim, April 5,
1948. A copy of this letter is in the Parsons papers, Archives of American Art.

185
.

“A Maryland horse farm”: Du Plessix and Gray, p. 52.

185
.

“reckless with tools”: Jeffrey Potter,
To a Violent Grave: An Oral Biography of Jackson Pollock
(New York: Putnam, 1985), p. 104.

186
.

“Wilfredo doesn’t speak any English”: interview with Elisabeth Ross Zogbaum, Dec.
1983.

186
.

“a new European country”: Peggy Guggenheim,
Out of This Century: Confessions of an Art Addict
(New York: Universe Books, 1979), p. 329.

186
.

“I am glad you took on Pollock”: letter from Peggy Guggenheim to Betty Parsons, Oct.
8, 1949, Parsons papers, Archives of American Art.

186
.

“experimental meanderings”: Aline B. Louchheim, “ ‘Modern’ or ‘Contemporary’—Words
or Meanings?”
The New York Times
, Feb. 22, 1948, Sec. II, p. 8.

187
.

“strange art of today”: “A Life Round Table on Modern Art,”
Life
, Oct. 11, 1948, p. 56.

187
.

“Have had fairly good response”: letter from JP to Louis Bunce, postmarked June 2,
1946, Bunce papers, Archives of American Art.

189
.

“adding to the confusion”: “Unframed Space,”
The New Yorker
, Aug. 5, 1950, p. 16.

189
.

“there was no drinking”: letter from Stella Pollock to Charles Pollock, Jan. 10, 1949,
Catalogue Raisonné
, Vol. 4, p. 243.

189
.

“He is an honest man”: Du Plessix and Gray, p. 48.

190
.

“The Dr. doesn’t give him anything”: letter of Jan. 10, 1949.

190
.

“My husband didn’t believe”: telephone interview with Mrs. Edwin Heller, the doctor’s
widow, Jan. 1984.

190
.

“quieted any doubts”: Clement Greenberg, “Art,”
The Nation
, Feb. 19, 1949, p. 221.

190
.

“tangled hair”: Emily Genauer,
New York World-Telegram
, Feb. 7, 1949.

191
.

“advanced stage of disintegration”: Sam Hunter, “Among the Shows,”
The New York Times
, Jan. 30, 1949.

191
.

“the museum never knew”: Grace Glueck, “Scenes from a Marriage: Krasner and Pollock,”
Art News
, Dec. 1981, p. 60.