Art · 1912–1956
Born: 28 January 1912 · Died: 11 August 1956 · Age at death: 44
Jackson Pollock died aged 44. He was born on 28 January 1912 and died on 11 August 1956.
American Abstract Expressionist painter famous for dripping and pouring paint onto canvases laid on the floor
Did you know?Before finding fame as an artist, he worked as a janitor at a museum in New York City.
Jackson Pollock changed painting by putting the canvas on the floor. Born in Wyoming, he studied under Thomas Hart Benton in New York. In the late 1940s he began dripping and pouring paint from above. His swirling webs of colour became the face of Abstract Expressionism. Life magazine asked whether he was the greatest living painter in America. Alcoholism troubled him for years. He died in a car crash at 44.
Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, he was noted for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles.
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Profile
American painter, 1912–1956
Jackson Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming, on 28 January 1912.
He studied with Thomas Hart Benton.
He began his drip paintings in 1947.
He married painter Lee Krasner in 1945.
Career highlights
Did you know?His painting No. 5, 1948 reportedly sold for $140 million in 2006.
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Last reviewed: October 2026