Untitled II (1945) by Jackson Pollock

This mixed media drawing was completed using crayon, colored pencil, ink and watercolor on a single sheet of paper whose dimensions are approximately 60cm wide by 50cm wide. Jackson Pollock was highly experimental and would try out many different combinations of styles and tools right across his career.

You will see in this artwork a clear contrast between the black ink and the alternative colours which would have been added using the crayon and watercolour. Pollock often would add a single layer first before then taking another tool and adding something quite different over the top, or between the existing lines, which produced this deeply contrasting finish. He would do the same with his large paintings as well, often adding figurative abstract portraits first, before then expressing paint freely over the top, making the original figures very hard to identify, unless you are already particularly familiar with this artist's work.

Pollock remains one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, and some have actually claimed him to be the finest American artist in history. Certainly, he was highly influential and creative, finding new ways for artists to express themselves, though his own personality was not helpful in promoting his work as he was unstable at times and not always the easiest to get on with.

MoMA own this item, alongside a good selection of different drawings, screenprints, lithographs and etchings from Jackson Pollock's career. They are not always on display, because of the sheer size of the institution's overall collection that cannot all be dislayed at the same time. Those with a broader interest in art should check out some of the other fine artworks to be found here, which cover all manner of different movements such as abstract art, cubism, abstract expressionism and post-impressionism. Highlights to be found from those styles include Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian, Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, 1889, Paul Gauguin's Seed of the Areoi and Henri Matisse's L'Atelier Rouge. There are thousands of other items to enjoy here too, with the display constantly rotated in order to keep it fresh and make repeat visits entirely worthwhile.