General Historical Context and Period

To fully understand the works of Jackson Pollock as well as many other artists of the time, it is necessary to understand what was happening historically around the world. In the early 1900's the Dada movement or, "non-movement" as it were, began in response to World War I. Dadaist were a group of artist and writers who were fed up with society and did everything they could to criticize a slew of -isms such as nationalism, rationalism, materialism, etc. They wanted nothing to do with artistic traditions so they chose to create what was considered "non-art" using mild obscenities, scatological humor, visual puns and everyday objects. Eventually by the early 1920's Dada put an end to itself.

After the Dada period art now held new meaning. There were no lines to stay inside and artist were free to express themselves however they pleased. Art was no longer confined to realistic reproductions of real life. Out of the Dada movement came Surrealism and Expressionism, among other styles. Pollock, having seen Dada, was influenced by the movement as well. Artists of this time began to create art that evoked strong feelings without giving a certain subject to their pieces. The works were open ended leaving the viewer to develop their own understanding of the pieces.

Raquel Branscum

http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/dada.htm