Page 23 - Studio International - December 1972

Jackson Pollock: a symbolic self-portrait

David Freke

It has long been recognized that each of enough popular interest to be invited to give the non-specialists, particularly the accessibility of
Pollock's 'mythological' paintings of 1943 may Terry Lectures at Yale in 1937 and his 'Two the unconscious implied by his ideas and his
have a fairly specific iconography, but the Essays on Analytical Psychology', 'The frequent appeals to common sense and
degrees of explicitness allowed to them range Psychology of the Unconscious' and 'Modern self-discipline as major factors in the
from Frank O'Hara's interpretation in terms of Man in Search of a Soul', the most interesting individual's psychic life. Jung is also particularly
a particular Roman legend,' to Lawrence of his books from the artist's and layman's point attractive to 'creative' people because he uses
Alloway's conclusion that the titles are merely of view, were all available in English in America art as a keystone of his theories. A theory
'loosely evocative'2. However, it can be shown by the early 1930s.3 There are several reasons which asserts that the unconscious is
that not only are the sources and iconography of for the attraction which Jung's theories have for mythopoetic and that the arts are its
each picture fairly specific, but also that as a
series they demonstrate a thematic coherence
and unity which almost gives them the form of
a narrative series. The major works of 1942/43,
Male and Female, Moon Woman, The Moon
Woman Cuts the Circle, She-Wolf, The
Guardians of the Secret and Pasiphaë,
constitute an unfolding exposition of the life,
death and rebirth of the Jungian archetypal
hero. It is a commonplace to assert that in
every picture the artist is really painting himself,
but it is usually meant in the general sense that
in all his actions a man reveals himself.
However, it may be possible to suggest that in
these 'mythological' pictures Jackson Pollock
was depicting himself in a more particular
sense, and that they form a sort of symbolic
self-portrait.
It may seem unlikely that the widely differing
themes presented by these paintings could
possibly be related closely enough to form
such a coherent scheme — Male and Female
presents the relationship between the sexes, the
Moon Woman series have as their source the
legend of Hiawatha, She-Wolf refers to the
Romulus and Remus myth, The Guardians of
the Secret explores the theme of death with
visual references to Egyptian funerary
monuments, and Pasiphaë, with its original
title of Moby Dick, refers to a nineteenth-century
whaling adventure. However, their very
diversity gives away their source, for it is
unlikely that there is more than one place where
all these themes come together. That place is
the seventh chapter of Jung's book 'Symbols of
Transformation' where all of them except
Moby Dick are used by Jung in his exposition
of the life of the mythic hero. Before examining
in detail how Pollock followed the cycle from
birth to rebirth and how it may be related to his
own inner artistic life it is necessary to show
how he became familiar enough with Jung's
ideas for such a series to be feasible.
Pollock's involvement itself must be seen
against the background of general interest which
Jung's ideas aroused in America in the 193os
and 4os. By the end of the ios he had aroused

Male and Female 1942
Oil on canvas, 73 1/4 X 49 in.
Coll. Mrs H. Gates Lloyd
217