This volume examines the nature of American abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock's (1912-1956) paintings. The author discusses Pollock's rivalry with Picasso, the impact of Jung, the meanings embedded within Pollock's works, the context in which they were seen and the mythology which surrounds Pollock's persona. Pollock abandoned the tradition of easel painting and executed his paintings on the floor, some on a monumental scale. He developed a way of working in which he poured, dripped or splashed the paint onto the canvas, allowing the pull of gravity to play a full part in the execution of the work. Walking around the painting, at times standing on it, Pollock became immersed in the act of painting. The source of his art, he claimed, was the unconscious. Pollock's radical approach to abstract painting was underscored, however, by a residual interest in the figure which, until recently, has consistently been ignored in interpreting the celebrated dripped paintings.