Guggenheim Museum - Global Exhibitions - Venice - No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock Paintings on Paper

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No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock Paintings on Paper
June 4–September 18, 2005

Jackson Pollock's explosive paintings are universally known and easily recognizable. Yet his drawings, though equally powerful, have not received the same attention. No Limits, Just Edges: Jackson Pollock Paintings on Paper seeks to correct that. The exhibition, which continues its European tour at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, features a compelling group of 40 works drawn from international collections and gives a comprehensive overview of Pollockís drawings. A retrospective selection highlighting the most important phases of Pollockís career begins with his early sketchbook studies of old master paintings, as well as those influenced by his contemporaries, mainly the Mexican muralists. Significant consideration is given to Pollock's works on paper executed in the decisive decade between 1940 and 1950 that mirror his advances in painting and display his reading of Surrealist imagery and techniques. No Limits, Just Edges reexamines the artistís draftsmanship by considering his works on paper as an essential component in his transformation of the traditional figurative line into a nonfigurative graphic expression. The exhibition was organized by Guggenheim curator Susan Davidson.