Page 28 - Studio International - March 1965

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Another influence is present. as well: it is that of
Jean Dubuffet. On a visit to Paris in 1949. Ossorio met
Michel Tapie. who introduced him to the work of this
most controversial of French post-war painters. So
keen was Ossorio's response that Tapie arranged a
meeting between the two men. A firm friendship
resulted and over the years Ossorio has acquired
approximately twenty paintings, plus about twenty
more works in other media. Few people are aware that
for several years 'The Creeks' housed Dubuffet's
famous collection of art brut. 'No one here seemed
interested in it'. says Mr. Ossorio. Today the collection
occupies its own museum in France. But finally the
influences were those of affinities. not those of
arbitration. The Ossorio Collection is his own. personal
as a thumb print.
In about 1947. Jackson and Lee Pollock determined
to leave Manhattan and settle permanently in the
country. Ultimately, they selected The Springs. a small
community near East Hampton. as the ideal situation.
The land was pleasant. property was still cheap. and it
was sufficiently near New York to make occasional
visits feasible. They bought a house. built studio space.
and became the pioneers of its art community. In 1949.
Ossorio visited them and determined to follow their
example. In 1950. however. he returned to the
Philippines for a visit and remained to accept a com­
mission to decorate a village chapel. The result must
certainly be among the most remarkable of contem­
porary church murals.
On his return he resumed his search for the perfect
East Hampton location and with the help of Mrs.
Pollock he discovered 'The Creeks'. With a terrace
overlooking Georgica Pond and a covering stand of
woods surrounding it. it guaranteed privacy. Large, but
not unwieldy. it seemed possible to maintain. It had
spacious outbuildings, and. even better. a private
theatre that could easily be converted into a commodi­
ous studio. That it was near to his friends the Pollocks
made the prospect even more attractive. He purchased
'The Creeks' and moved in permanently in 1952. It is
ironic to recall that it was while returning home from a
concert at 'The Creeks' that Jackson Pollock met his
death in an automobile crash.
With 'The Creeks' as a setting Ossorio resumed collect­
ing and it was at about this time that he acquired many
show he has gathered a considerable critical following. of the paintings that have become monuments in the
particularly in France. where he is rightly regarded as history of American art. Perhaps the most important
one of America's most original artists. among them is Jackson Pollock's Lavender Mist.
His collection began in earnest during those remark­ unquestionably one of the four most important Pollocks
able post-World War 11 years when New York was and in the opinion of many (myself included) his
throbbing with the excitement of a brave new art at masterpiece. It is an archetype of Pollock's major
once powerful and indigenous. Much has been written phase. A vast horizontal structure. it functions entirely
of the era. but nothing. I think. has captured its on the picture plane. Uncontained in four directions.
passionate convictions and churning vitality. Although it could serve as a symbol for the aesthetic that heralded
a latecomer to the scene. I arrived in the east in time to the new American art.
feel the hum and buzz of it: it remains unique in my In the early 1940s young American painters. especially
experience (although there was much the same spirit those working in and about New York. commenced
in San Francisco from 1947 until 1950 when Clyfford their serious questioning of the principles of Cubism.
Still led the young rebels to artistic freedom). Ossorio Social Realism. which had dominated American
was an active part of this era. although characteristically painting in the 1930s (Regionalism was simply a more
remaining outside the orbit of its feuds. It was during parochial form of the same school) had lost the force
this period that he first met Jackson Pollock and his of its initial impulse. It seemed by then somehow
1 wife. the painter Lee Krasner. They were to remain beside the point. Surrealism had never compelled the
John Little
Unspoiled. 1959 close friends until Pollock's death. While not over­ American imagination as it had the French. Immediately
Oil on canvas 30 x 24 in. powering. Pollock's influence on the collection is prior to America's entry into World War II. Cubism.
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Lee Krasner present: it was. in fact. Pollock who introduced Ossorio particularly the 'hermetic' Cubism of Picasso. was the
Painting. 1 94 9 to Still and deKooning. favoured mode of the American vanguard. During the
24 X 30 1n.
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