Autumn Rhythm And The Oxbow Essay

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Autumn Rhythm and The Oxbow: A Survey of Nature Paintings Jackson Pollock said “It doesn't make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement” (Jackson Pollock Biography). When looking at the paintings Autumn Rhythm: Number 30 by Jackson Pollock and Thomas Cole’s View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm more commonly known as The Oxbow one would be quick to assume that the two paintings have nothing in common (Figure 2, 1). The latter, painted in 1836, by the founder of The Hudson River School of Art, and the former painted in 1950 by an abstract expressionist, it would be easy to write off the two paintings as incomparable based purely on technique. However, as Jackson Pollock said, technique is a mode of transportation for a piece of art work, not a …show more content…

Pollock’s abstract expressionist paintings are written off by some as mere paint splatters but recognized by most as chaotic yet methodical masterpieces. While the paintings may in fact seem random, as seen in Autumn Rhythm Number 30 there is a “complex linear skeleton using black paint” and then, on top of that an array of colors contrasting the stark blackness of the painting’s foundation (Jackson Pollock Autumn). Like in all of Pollock’s works there is no focal or center point of Autumn Rhythm Number 30 however, when studying the painting it is seen that there is a cohesion throughout the painting, connecting the lines and dots throughout. And while originally, Pollock named the painting simply Number 30 as to not influence the viewer with a telling title, with the colors used-- whites, browns, and blacks-- it is invocative of fall. Autumn Rhythm Number 30 shows the balance that Pollock is known for: chaos and discipline, that comes together for a visually stunning piece of

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