Jackson Pollock Very Early Original Vintage 1929 Avant Garde Still Life Oil Painting Study Samovar Tiare Tahiti Manual Arts High School LA CA
Original vintage oil on artist board still life of a samovar with Tiare Tahiti flowers and turnips, by American Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). This painting is extremely rare, and completed when the young artist was still in high school, under the instruction of the artist Frederick John Schwankovsky, while attending Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, California. There is catalogued painting by Pollock's instructor, Schwankovsky with the same specific still life subject with a samovar and Tiare Tahiti flowers, ( Tahitian Gardenia in the coffee family, Rubiaceae), as this painting by Jackson Pollock was completed in a class with the instructor, in / as a study. Jackson Pollock was quoted as stating that Frederick John Schwankovsky, his instructor at Manual Arts High School, had a heavy influence on his work (Grove Dictionary of Art). The painting contains the strong palette of colors associated with Pollock"s early works, as well as his heavy brushwork with thick paint. The cubism, avant- garde Art Deco manner os apecific to his very early formative period during this year. The painting has a partially legible signature in the lower right corner, with the year 1929, and partial legible initials and writing along the lower portion of the painting. Verso, there are remnants of the artist's signature in several places, as well as old masking tape preserved with the initial J, and #15. The painting measures approximately 12" x 16", plus the original vintage wood frame. The painting is in excellent original condition, as well as the original wood frame.
Born in Cody, Wyoming, Jackson Pollock grew up in Arizona and California, showing early artistic talent. He studied in Los Angeles at the Manual Arts High School under artist and instructor, Frederick John Schwankovsky, and later moved to New York in 1930, studying under muralist Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League.
In 1929, the art featured at Manual Arts High School was a unique blend of traditional academic training and a radical introduction to European modernism. Under the leadership of Frederick John Schwankovsky, the school's art department became an incubator for experimental styles and diverse mediums. The 1929 environment was defined by a transition from conservative academic realism to avant- garde experimentation. Schwankovsky introduced his students, including Jackson Pollock and Philip Guston, to European modernism, through slides and journals like "The Arts" and "Creative Art". This included early explorations of Cubist principles and abstract forms. The 1929 yearbook for the school, "The Artisan" featured an aesthetic influenced by Art Deco, specifically a "Tahiti" theme that incorporated stylized, decorative motifs popular in the 1920s.
Pollock recieved a pivotal contract from Peggy Guggeheim in 1943, leading to his first solo exhibition and allowing him to focus on painting. By the 1950s, his fame grew, but so did his struggles with alcooholism, anxiety, and public pressure. His marriage to fellow artist provided support, but was also complicated by infidelity.
Pollock tragically passed in a car accident in 1956.
Jackson Pollock is well- represented in the collections of numerous prestigious institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, and the Tate Museum in London.
Contact Us
Pacificfineart@gmail.com
424-259-3290