Jackson Pollock

14 6.3

An American painter known for drip paintings who helped start a style of abstract painting

proper noun
/ˈdʒæk.sən ˈpɒl.ək/

: Jackson Pollock

Many art historians consider Jackson Pollock a revolutionary figure in modern American painting.

Examples

The exhibition featured several iconic works by Jackson Pollock, including his famous drip paintings.
Many art historians consider Jackson Pollock a revolutionary figure in modern American painting.
Students studied Jackson Pollock to better understand the development of abstract expressionism.
Many consider Jackson Pollock to be a revolutionary artist.
Did you know that Jackson Pollock was born in 1912?
Students studied Jackson Pollock to better understand the development of abstract expressionism.
The exhibition featured several iconic works by Jackson Pollock, including his famous drip paintings.

Surface Forms

Jackson Pollock main

Morphology

Jackson + Pollock

This is a proper name referring to a specific person; the meanings of the constituents 'Jackson' and 'Pollock' are arbitrary names (no lexical meanings), so the identity and significance of 'Jackson Pollock' cannot be derived from the parts. Understanding that this is an American artist requires encyclopedic/cultural knowledge rather than compositional word knowledge, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not be able to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Jackson Pollock is the name of an American artist famous for 'drip painting' — he laid large canvases on the floor and walked around them, dripping and splashing paint. That strong image of paint thrown across the surface is why his name is linked to those wild, modern paintings and to a new style of 'modern art'.