The Year Pollock Put His Canvas on the Floor

In 1947, Jackson Pollock changed his working method as much as his materials, laying the canvas flat on the floor instead of setting it upright on an easel. He reached for ordinary household paint rather than the artist's oils typical of the era, letting it drop from above instead of applying it by brush. That single change in approach turned out to be the one that defined the rest of his career.

With reporting from Galerie.