Untitled (Animals and Figures) by Jackson Pollock

This untitled drawing from 1942 features both animals and figures within a colourful display of line, without too much internal detail added. Pollock used gouache and ink to create these various elements on a sheet of paper of around 76cm by 57cm.

In some cases the artist would construct elements with just a thin line of pen, whilst in other cases he used thicker and brighter tones to create a more dominant look. There are tones of yellow, green, black and red to be found here as Jackson Pollock went deep into his own mind in order to produce some extraordinary creatures, somewhat akin to pre-historic cave drawings or other art from past civilisations. His most famous paintings attempted to get away entirely from recognisable forms but in most cases Pollock would actually start with them before then adding additional layers of oil paint across huge canvases. In the case of this untitled drawing he is simply experimenting with some of those early shapes. For example, we can directly connect this sketchwork to later paintings such as Stenographic Figure and and The She-Wolf, both of which started in this way before layering up paint and expression over the top to leave behind a much more abstract finish.

We can see clearly here how the artist is already bringing two layers of colour together in a very abrupt manner, with single lines of pen and then brighter, thicker tones over the top. He loved to try out all manner of techniques in his career, leaving behind far more than just the large canvases that most are aware of. There were also screenprints, lithographs and etchings too, as Pollock started to collaborate with other artists who had their own specialisations and enjoyed teaching him the ways of these alternative approaches. The 1940s more generally was a critical time in his career where developments can be tracked and a number of recent exhibitions have drawn attention to that.

You will find this drawing amongst a terrific collection of work which draws together the finest names in Modern art from across the United States and Europe. Even the highlights are too considerable in number to mention them all here, but head to MoMA in New York in order to see some of the very best in art from the 20th century. There are close to one hundred paintings and drawings from Jackson Pollock's career alone, including some of his most famous paintings, but for those with a broader set of artistic tastes, you may also be interested in other notable pieces such as The Sleeping Gypsy and The Dream by Henri Rousseau, Broadway Boogie-Woogie by Piet Mondrian and also Self-Portrait With Cropped Hair by Frida Kahlo. Some of these styles could potentially have influenced Jackson Pollock himself and he is known specifically to have been interested in the work of the European Surrealists, among other things.