Jackson Pollock “Alchemy” at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice in Italy

Painting - Oil, aluminum, alkyd enamel paint with sand, pebbles, fibers and broken wooden sticks on Lace Canvas (114.6 × 221.3 cm) 1947

Jackson Pollock, Alchemy Matter reigns with power, presence and thickness in this painting entitled “Alchemy” made in 1947 by Jackson Pollock.

A living, dynamic matter that comes alive before our eyes, which is transformed when we approach it, making us discover other forms, other signs, other paintings in the painting.

“Alchemy” is one of his first paintings where he uses dripping and paint droplets, his famous “dripping”.

The material, the layers, is so dense that it is impossible to see the canvas, completely covered with paint layers.

Jackson Pollock, Alchemy The “Opificio Delle Pietre Dure” of Florence, which carried out its restoration in 2013, found that Pollock used 4.6 kg of paint to make this painting!

The materials used by Pollock to carry out its “Alchemy” are also impressive.

Pollock used oil painting on a laced canvas, but also aluminium paint and string.

Experts are reluctant to say that he would have used enamels to do this “alchemical” work!

A lace canvas is placed on the ground to “water” it with paint in a broad and precise gesture giving this final typical feeling.

Jackson Pollock himself said:

“On the floor, I feel more comfortable.

I feel closer, being part of my painting; in this way, I can turn around, work from all four sides and make the body with my artwork.”
Jackson Pollock

And in fact, we can see, feel the movements of Pollock's body in this canvas, how he painted it, how he “printed” his primitive signs in this work.

Jackson Pollock, Alchemy