Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912. He was deeply influenced by the work of Picasso and the ideas of Carl Jung. Pollock pushed abstraction to new levels with his famous drip paintings made between 1947 and 1950. Breaking free of the brush to canvas method of painting Pollock used sticks and brushes to fling and drip the paint, sand and other objects onto a canvas usually placed on the floor.

Jackson Pollock making one of his drip paintings. Photographby Hans Namuth, 1950.