Jackson Pollock Unauthorized |
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Jackson Pollock’s Stenographic: An Ongoing Debate of Content and MeaningWhen Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) painted “Stenographic”(the official title is Stenographic Figure) in 1942, the art world was at once both impressed and wildly confused. Reputable artist Piet Mondrian described it as nothing short of “the most interesting work I’ve seen so far in America.” There was no agreement, however, on exactly what was depicted, let alone what was signified. As with previous works, Pollock remained silent as to both its content and meaning. He strongly felt that interpreting his works would essentially destroy them. It was up to each viewer to take away from Stenographic what they c ould.
Content and Meaning More than one art scholar has observed that Stenographic was created at a time when Pollock had recently emerged from years (1938-1941) of Jungian psychotherapy, striving to break alcoholism’s grip on his life. Since part of his therapy involved making and analyzing drawings, it is reasonable to assume that Jungian concepts would most likely appear in some of his subsequent works. Hence, those scholars, who engage in intense Jungian analysis of the painting, inevitably point to the artist’s need for reconciling opposites . It is worth noting that the painting was not always titled “Stenographic”. When first completed, it was simply called “Painting”. Unlike some of Pollock’s later works, whose eventual titles were suggested by others, the artist renamed the painting Stenographic in 1943. Taking into account this more literal approach to the title , some have suggested that the painting is Pollock himself in psychoanalysis, spouting his dictation to a Jungian analyst, of which he had two – Dr. Joseph Henderson and later on Dr. Violet Staub de Laszlo. Jackson Pollock’s Stenographic is currently housed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). To examine the painting is definitely interesting; see what you can make of the perennial debates regarding the content and meaning of this work by one of America’s most celebrated artists.
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Jack the Dripper |
Much of Pollock’s early work tends to be composed of muted colors and congested canvases. By comparison, Stenographic is downright bright and airy, an oil-on-canvas painting measuring 40 by 56 inches. Most would agree that there is a vaguely humanoid figure on the left side of the canvas. There are a lot of calligraphy-like brushstrokes all across the canvas, many of which appear to be numbers as they have a certain mathematical feel to them, while others present themselves as mere wavy, curvy lines.