Eyes in the Heat by Jackson Pollock

This painting dates back to 1946/1947 and is part of a collection of 7 works called "Sounds in the Grass" which is currently part of Peggy Guggenheim’s collection (Sister to Solomon R. Guggenheim - who opened her art gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, in London, in January 1938)

This painting along with the other ones in the series were created in the newly converted studio of his new house in Long Island, where he had moved a year before.

Pollock had arranged with Peggy herself for the painting to be exposed in her Art of This Century gallery along with his other collection Accabonac Creek.

Compared to the works preceding this collection and before the moving, Eyes in the Heat presents a lighter colour choice and is defined by Pollock's new style: "Dripping" (applying the paint to the canvas directly from the tube without the aid of a brush).

The painter uses a series of objects of his choice to move the thick layers of paint creating swirls and patterns that captivate the viewer and guide its gaze across the canvas.

This opened the door to his late drip technique, which is the cradle and emblem of the abstract impressionism movement.

Since Pollock studied under Thomas Hart Benton - a Synchromist author - he himself is in way influenced by this technique.

Henry Adams in his book “Tom and Jack” describes the lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Pollock and their reciprocal influences.

The concept behind the technique is based on the concept of having every colour correspond to a musical note and believing that a painting is able to evoke the same emotions as a complex piece of music.

In this work, Pollock experimented in expressing emotion through the thick and calibrated drips of paint as the artwork came to life and acquired a will of his own.

Critics have often compared Pollock’s works to the abstract pictured of the universe, capturing in a limited space the beauty of the cosmos and a deeper meaning of universal forces.