From October 15, 2024, to January 19, 2025, the Musée national Picasso-Paris presents a new temporary exhibition devoted to the American artist Jackson Pollock. The first exhibition in France since 2008, it will focus on his early works, from 1934 to 1947.
The exhibition Jackson Pollock: The Early Years (1934-1947) looks back at the early career of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), marked by the influence of Regionalism and Mexican muralists, through to his first drippings in 1947. This body of work, rarely exhibited, bears witness to the diverse sources that nourished the young artist’s research, crossing the influence of Native American arts with that of the European avant-gardes, among which Pablo Picasso figures prominently. Compared by critics to the Spanish painter and the great names of European painting, Pollock was quickly established as a true icon of American painting. In so doing, he became isolated from the complex networks of exchanges of influences that fostered his work during his New York years. The exhibition aims to present these years in detail, which were the basis of his work, by restoring the artistic and intellectual context from which both Picasso and Pollock developed their work.
The exhibition focuses on several key moments in young Pollock’s artistic and intellectual development during these years of experimentation. By calling on key figures in his artistic career (Charles Pollock, William Baziotes, Lee Krasner, André Masson, Pablo Picasso, and Janet Sobel), the exhibition highlights the intensity and singularity of his work in its various dimensions such as painting—incorporating everyday materials—engraving, and sculpture.
The exhibition will feature about a hundred works from prestigious international institutions such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Tate, and the Stedelijk Museum.
Key figures:
⁻ Nearly 100 works on display
⁻ 30 lenders (19 from the U.S. and 11 from other countries: Germany, Netherlands, UK, Italy, France, Portugal)
⁻ 37 pieces of documentation
The exhibition catalogue will be available in French and English.
The exhibition, Jackson Pollock: The Early Years (1934-1947), receives exceptional support from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.
