Abstract composition of black and white lines made up of drips and splatters crossing each other in chaotic webs on a textured backdrop of layered red, blue and yellow.
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Jackson Pollock

Magic Lantern
Now On View

Maker

Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956)

Title

Magic Lantern

Year

1947

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

aluminum paint, enamel, oil paint

Supports

Dimensions

108.9 x 55.2 cm (42 7/8 x 21 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed lower center and on reverse:Pollock 47

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Peggy Guggenheim

Object Number

54.005

Type

Publications

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now
Jun 04, 2022 – Dec 01, 2030

Label copy

One of Jackson Pollock’s earliest poured paintings, Magic Lantern reveals his tight control as he covered a canvas with looping skeins of color. Working on a flat surface and improvising with gesture and materials, Pollock used a variety of available household paints to create the hard, dense surface of this image, scattering it with carpet tacks to intensify its physicality. Its intimate scale encourages close examination of its construction.

Magic Lantern was given to the RISD Museum by Peggy Guggenheim, who had encouraged Pollock by exhibiting his work in her Art of This Century Gallery in New York during the 1940s.

–Maureen C. O’Brien, Frank Robinson Curator of Painting and Sculpture

Paula and Leonard Granoff Galleries
Dec 18, 2015
Re-Viewing the Twentieth Century
Jul 21, 2006 – Apr 22, 2007
Webs, Loops, and Skeins in Modern and Contemporary Art
Feb 24, 2006 – Apr 23, 2006
Celebrating the Jewish Contribution to Twentieth-Century American Art
Nov 12, 2004 – Mar 05, 2005

Image use

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In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956)
Magic Lantern, 1947
Oil, enamel, and carpet tacks on canvas
108.9 x 55.2 cm (42 7/8 x 21 3/4 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Peggy Guggenheim 54.005

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