Pollock Page #4

"Cathartic disintegration."

What do you say to that?

- You forgot "baked macaroni."

- Well?

Well, if people would just...

leave most of their stuff at home

and just look at the paintings...

I don't think they'd have

any trouble enjoying them.

It's like looking

at a bed of flowers.

You don't tear your hair out

over what it means.

How do you know when

you're finished with a painting?

How do you know when

you're finished making love?

That's better.

Just be yourself.

Delivery.

Have you seen this...

Life magazine article?

I have plenty if you want one.

Enjoy the show.

Cheer up.

I'm gonna go sell a big one.

Take a look around, fellas.

These are the big shots.

Jackson broke the ice.

Hi. How are you?

- Do you know the Petersons?

- No.

This is Betty Parsons.

Hi, Mom.

Pollock showed 30 pictures last fall

and sold all but five...

and his collectors

are nibbling at those.

Mr. Pollock, in your opinion,

what is the meaning of modern art?

Mr. Pollock, in your opinion,

what is the meaning of modern art?

Modern art, to me...

is nothing more than...

the expression

of the contemporary aims...

of the age that we're living in.

Did the classical artists

have any means of expressing their age?

Yes, and they did it very well.

All cultures have had

means and techniques...

of expressing their...

immediate aims.

The thing that interests me...

is that today...

painters do not have to go to

a subject matter outside of themselves.

They work from a different source.

They work from within.

It seems tome...

that the modern artist

cannot express this age--

the airplane, the atom bomb,

the radio--

in the old forms

of the Renaissance...

or any other past culture.

How do you go about

getting the paint on the canvas?

I understand you don't use brushes

or anything of that sort.

I paint on the floor.

That's not unusual.

The Orientals did that.

Most of the paint I use

is a liquid flowing kind of paint.

The brushes I use

are used more as sticks.

The brush doesn't actually

touch the canvas...

but just above it.

Isn't it more difficult to control,

and isn't there more of possibility...

of getting too much paint,

or splattering, or any number of things?

No, I don't think so.

With experience...

it seems possible to control...

the flow of the paint

to a great extent...

and I don't use--

I don't use the accident...

'cause I deny the accident.

Did you see

the Magazine of Art review?

It was a public recant,

a complete switcheroo.

Five years ago, he called

Pollock's work "baked macaroni."

Now he says,

"an impregnable language of image--

beautiful and subtle patterns

of pure form."

- You all made it.

- Yeah, we made it.

How was it?

Hi, Elizabeth.

Good to see you.

You must be Jeremy.

Dad drove 1 00 miles an hour

all the way from L.A.

Hey, how are you?

How you doin'?

Hi, Charles.

Hi, Jack.

- How are you, Karen?

- She's pleased to meet you.

Hi, Mom.

It's so nice to have

all my boys together.

I'm so glad everybody's here.

How you doin'?

How was the trip?

He's so heavy.

I miss you, you son of a b*tch.

I miss you. It's just not the same.

Nothin' was ever the same

to begin with.

- What do you think?

- Shangri-la.

Everybody okay down there?

You hit the big time, Jack.

How many did you sell from that

November show? Mother wrote 18.

That was the best show I ever had.

It all gets poured back into the house.

I'm thinking of buying the acreage next

door, put up a studio for Lee maybe.

Free up the upstairs bedroom,

give her more space.

I think he probably articulated

the profundity of Jackson's art...

more eloquently than anyone has.

- How are they?

- Fine. Mother's reading Peter Pan.

This one here, this is from

the most recent Art News.

- Story about a boy who never grew up.

- Another rave.

I can't wait to see what he's

gonna say about Jackson's next show.

I'm not sure

I always get it, Jack.

I'm the only painter

worth looking at in America.

- There really isn't anyone else.

- I expect that's true, Jack.

- This guy wants to make a film on me.

- Why?

Well, they made one on Calder.

I have a show coming up

at the Circle Gallery.

I'm exhibiting under

the name Charles Pima.

What the hell you doin' that for?

This is priced at 4,000.

Buy it for 1 ,500.

It'll be worth 1 00,000 someday.

-Just any kind for me.

- I'll have a cherry.

Does anybody speak Italian?

I need somebody

who speaks Italian.

Do you speak Italian?

Here it is, Arte Moderna.

We figured out that much-- " Modern Art."

There's an article about me.

Does anybody know

what that means?

Does anybody wanna play anagrams?

Here's something about

" Povro Picasso."

Povro Picasso.

Did you hear that?

What do you think that means?

- I think it means "poor Picasso."

- Poor Picasso?

Like poor? Did you guys hear that?

Poor Picasso!

Is Picasso more important

than your family?

I had this dream.

I'm at the edge of a cliff, and my

brothers are there, all four of them...

and they're trying

to push me off the cliff.

Goddamn f***in' nightmare.

We're rollin'.

Now come back in.

We're rollin'.

Now come back in.

Don't stop.

That's good.

Stop, stop.

Go to the chair, sit down.

Put your shoes on.

Your head's too low.

Lift it up.

Don't talk. We see your mouth moving.

You're supposed to be alone.

Cut.

We gotta do it again.

You can't talk.

Now sit down.

Don't look at camera.

That's good. Shoes.

That's better.

That looks good.

Cut, cut, cut.

You need to take more time looking.

Like-- I don't know.

Like you're thinking or wondering.

Cut.

Jackson, cut.

Cut. We ran out of film.

Just tell him

you don't wanna do it.

I can't.

Not polite.

It's been a month.

He wants to get it right.

It's not just that, anyway.

I feel like a phony.

You're a great painter, Pollock.

Just paint.

He wants to shoot through glass

so he can see my face.

You're the star.

I feel like a clam

without a shell.

F*** him.

F*** him. It's not for you.

I think it's gonna be

your best show ever, Jackson.

Everything works.

The big pictures...

the smaller ones.

It's phenomenal.

I don't think

it's going to sell, though.

- Take care of yourself.

- Will do.

I can't believe

they're still out there.

He's gotta be frozen.

Hello! Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeah. The light's gone.

That's it, Jackson.

We're done.

It's great. It's marvelous.

Jackson, where have you been?

Jackson, please.

Damn it, Hans, we need this.

Come in here.

Here, this one's for you.

First drink I've had

in two years.

Don't be a fool, Jackson.

Carve the turkey for me.

- The gravy.

- Anybody wanna eat?

The turkey will be served.

I'm not the phony,

you're the phony.

- Let's eat!

- Let's eat.

- I'm not the phony, you're the phony.

-Jackson, enough.

No. I want you

sitting next to me.

Come on, sit next to me.

Here you go.

I'm so hungry.

I'm sitting next to my buddy.

I'm not the phony,

you're the phony.

How about a toast

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