Jackson Pollock

by Steven Naifeh

  Heller’s background: Friedman. Heller meeting Jackson in 1953: Heller. Introduced by Brach: Brach. Heller, however, says he called JP “cold” in 1953 at the suggestion of Ossorio. Rockefeller purchase; “for $500,000”: Heller. In fact, Garçon au Gilet Rouge was bought by Rockefeller in 1955, but not at auction, not from the Beatty collection, and not for $500,000. Bertha Saunders, curator of David Rockefeller’s collection, would say only that the actual figure was considerably less than Heller remembers. “Johnny-come-lately”; “operator”: Q. by Kligman. Lee left to deal with Heller: Little. The Vicentes: “Pollock did not have much interest in Heller.” Conversation with Heller; “more interesting”: Heller. Heller’s passion for music: See Heller, q. in Potter, p. 186. “To be a composer”: JP, q. by Heller. Heller infatuated: Brach: “It was hero worship.” Growing beard in imitation: Little; Ossorio, int. by Shorthall, Nov. 9, 1959. “The Impressionists”; “the Cubists”: Q. by Friedman, JP, p. xiv. Friedman: “Ben saw values earlier, that is dollar values. I am not talking about real values. Ben was a bit behind in terms of what was going on in New York and a bit more interested in investment.” Negotiations for Echo collapsing: LK. “Mixup”; “rather difficult”; visit to Springs: Heller to JP, Dec. 20, 1955. “Wow”: Q. in Friedman, JP, p. xiv. Brach discouraging Blue Poles: Brach. Jackson reluctant to sell others: Friedman, JP, p. xiv.

  Number 31, 1950: OC&T 283, II, pp. 105–07. “Twelve squares”: Heller. “I wouldn’t”: Q. by Heller. Jackson wanting $10,000; Lee negotiating: LK. “In recognition”: Friedman, JP, p. 198. Painting having to be curved;” I really don’t like”: Heller. Title found prosaic; asking to try again: CG, q. in Potter, p. 187. “I didn’t understand”: Heller. “Have been looking”: Heller to JP, Feb. 11, 1956. “Torn between”: Friedman, JP, p. xi. Stevens and Ives: Friedman, JP, p. xvi. “Full of dizzying promise”: Tabak, “Collage,” p. 555. “A truly heroic”; encounter with Jackson: Friedman, JP, pp. xi–xx. Number 11, 1949: OC&T 246, II, pp. 68–69 (45” × 47¼”). “One of the best”: Friedman, “The New Baroque,” p. 13. “Trained” under Valentin: Friedman. “I felt how much”: Friedman, Almost a Life, p. 125. “The necessity”: Friedman to JP, n.d. Biographical article: Friedman, “Profile,” p. 59. “I doubt he ever read”: Friedman. Surf and sand: Friedman, q. in Potter, p. 224. Naming son: Jackson Friedman, born Feb. 28, 1957. Introducing Friedmans to friends: Cile Lord. Cavorting in surf: See Friedman, q. in Potter, p. 224. Viewing Lavender Mist: Friedman. “Young dilettante”: Q. in Kligman, p. 134. “Bordered in gold”: Name withheld by request. Friedman idolizing Jackson: See, e.g., Friedman, JP, p. 98.

  Klein’s office-apartment: Ghent: The apartment was on the south side of Eighty-sixth Street between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue. Daily calls: Ossorio, int. by Shorthall, Nov. 9, 1959, recalling the Elwyn Harrises, who shared a party line with the Pollocks. “God-like powers”: Southgate, q. in Potter, p. 232. “A psychiatrist”: Q. in Kligman, p. 108. “I’m overjoyed”: Q. by CG. Barnes Landing Group: Pearce. “Sullivan would have”: Ghent. “Encouraged to have babies”: Nancy Smith. Klein taking histories; devaluing traumatic incidents: Pearce. “That old womb”: Q. in Potter, p. 203. “Maybe I paint”: Q. by Abel. “You want to sleep”: Abel. “Hated his mother”: CG. Refusal to eat: LK.

  “Express himself”: Pearce. Klein complaining to Pearce: Pearce. No teetotaler herself: Nancy Smith. “Put up with it”: Pearce: Pearce believed that alcoholism was based neither on genetics nor on a chemical deficiency but rather on “anxiety.” While some of her patients attended AA, others did not, and she did not require it. Even later, when it became much more conventional for a therapist to demand that a patient stop drinking before beginning analysis, she did not make it a requirement. Klein’s lack of advice on drinking: Southgate; LK, q. by Glueck. “Did you tell”: Marca-Relli. “Yes, but”: Q. by Marca-Relli. “Pipsqueak”: Southgate. “Hey, wait a minute”: Southgate. “Look at the stuff”: Q. by JP, q. by Heller. “Go screw”: Q. by Marca-Relli.

  Jackson hadn’t lived enough: CG: “According to what Jackson said himself. “No sex in three years: Kligman. “Act out”: Ghent. Nancy Smith, another patient, says she was “encouraged to express myself. The idea was that if someone you loved was expressing themselves and enjoying the company of another person, you could only be happy for them.” CG: “Jackson had always been a sexual dud, so Ralph encouraged him to make for women.” “They’re so beautiful”: Q. by Cile Downs (Lord), q. in Potter, p. 211. “A lot of times”: Q. in Potter, p. 212. “I don’t know”: Q. by Tony Smith, q. in DP&G, “Who Was JP?” p. 54. Josie Wilkinson incident: Hopkins. Poindexter incident: Elinor Poindexter; Christie Poindexter Dennis. “Express his romantic”: CG.

  “Any number”: Jane Smith. Passes at Southgate: Southgate, q. in Potter, p. 211. Terrifying Marisol: Marisol, q. in Gruen, p. 205. “Cut it out”: Q. by Brach. “You got great”; “what’s the hurry?”: Q. by Budd. “Beeline”; Flack rambunctious; “babe”; “this huge man”: Flack. “Fucked Rita”: Friedman. Matter and Peterson: Marca-Relli: JP said this in Krasner’s presence, obviously for her ears. Krasner later told Friedman that JP had slept with them. As indicated earlier, JP was lying about his associations with both women. “Dames got their”: JP, q. in Potter, p. 212. “Being involved”; only interested in women: Kadish. Blaming Lee’s infertility: Bultman. Friedman’s reaction: Friedman, q. in Potter, pp. 212–13. Call girl story: Brach. “A real dish”: Budd. “No sexual action”: Brach. Excuse for nonperformance: Schapiro. On a trip to Gerard Point, JP and Slivka saw two women standing across the inlet on Louse Point beach. “Jackson said, ‘Dave, why don’t we swim over there and fuck ‘em both?’ I said, ‘Jackson, I’ll let you swim over, and even if you only fuck one, I’ll wait for you.’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t know. Got to have help. … Maybe it’s not such a good idea. It’s kind of cold.’ I said, ‘That’s what I figured.’”

  Two o’clock: Carone, q. in Potter, p. 192. In early 1956: Carone: “It was the year of Jackson’s death and very cold.” Previous occasions; “dump him on the doorstep”: Dragon. Remainder of story: Except where noted, Carone.

  44. ESCAPE VELOCITY

  SOURCES

  Books, articles, manuscript, records, and transcripts

  Friedman, JP; PG, Out of This Century; Kligman, Love Affair; Namuth, Pollock Painting; Potter, To a Violent Grave; Solomon, JP; Weld, Peggy.

  DP&G, “Who Was JP?” Art in America, May–June 1967.

  “Toll of Ten Lives in Motor Crashes, Saturday in S’ampton, E. Hampton,” East Hampton Star, Aug. 16, 1956.

  Ruth Kligman, “Just Like a Woman” (unpub. ms.) n.d.

  Police Accident Report, East Hampton Town Police, #914, Aug. 11, 1956, submitted by Patrolman Earl Finch.

  Elwyn Harris, int. by Kathleen Shorthall for Life, Nov. 9, 1959, in Time/Life Archives; Alfonso Ossorio, int. by Shorthall for Life, Nov. 9, 1959, in Time/Life Archives; Richard and Allene Talmage, int. by Shorthall for Life, Nov. 9, 1959, in Time/Life Archives.

  Interviews

  Norman Bluhm; Paul Brach; Charlotte Park Brooks; James Brooks; David Budd; Peter Busa; Nicholas Carone; Ted Dragon; Morton Feldman; Audrey Flack; Abby Friedman; B. H. Friedman; CG; Ben Heller; Paul Jenkins; Reuben Kadish; Ruth Kligman; LK; Ibram Lassaw; Joe Liss; Millie Liss; Terry Liss; Cile Downs Lord; Iris Lord; Conrad Marca-Relli; John Bernard Myers; Annalee Newman (int. by David Peretz); Alfonso Ossorio; CCP; FLP; Milton Resnick; May Tabak Rosenberg; Miriam Schapiro; Jane Smith; Nancy Smith; Stephanie Sonora; Patsy Southgate; Ronald Stein; Ruth Stein; Michael Stolbach; Samuel Wagstaff; Eleanor Ward; Joan Ward; Roger Wilcox; Betsy Zogbaum.

  NOTES

  Jackson beating Lee; Lee calling police: Wheeler. Jackson threatening to leave: Kadish. Threatened institutionalization: CG; Ronald Stein; Wheeler. Ronald Stein: “She never had any doubt that it wasn’t going to happen. She knew Jackson would never voluntarily go into a hospital. It was so apparent that he didn’t want to be cured.”

  Twenty-five-year-old: Ruth a
t times claimed she was twenty-one at the time she met JP, but the police accident report lists her age as twenty-five. “Radiated”: Flack. Kligman meeting Jackson: See Kligman, pp. 26–34. Bootie; mother disowned over Bootie: Kligman. Mary: Iris Lord. “Always crying”: Kligman, p. 165. “Convinced we would win”: Kligman, p. 141. “No brunettes allowed”; “The desirable one”; “monsters”; aunt forcing her to urinate; “his eyes”; “the light”; “going into the backyard”: Kligman. “Ruthie has class”: Kligman, p. 22. Wealthy family: Kligman, “Just Like a Woman,” p. 128. Older men: Iris Lord: Ruth was “the darling of older men.” Kligman: “When I was in a position to pick, I’d always pick the Big Daddy type. Because I wanted a Big Daddy. I was very spoiled.” “Baudelaire, Apollinaire”; “My rich daddy”: Kligman. “Forgot about art”: Kligman. “I took advantage”: Kligman, “Just Like a Woman,” p. 104. Second breakdown: Kligman: “I had another nervous breakdown at twenty-one.” Job at Collectors Gallery: Flack. Vogue; beauty parlors; mirrors: Kligman, p. 65. “Went white”; “I need help”; “what are you”: Kligman, pp. 214–15.

  “You want to know artists”: Flack. Kligman told the authors the list was given to her, not by Flack, but by a painting teacher from Scarsdale recommended to her by her Jungian analyst. We accept Flack’s recollection. Kligman writing names down: Flack, q. in Potter, p. 228. “Which one”: Q. by Flack. “Pollock”: Flack. Kligman claiming she met Jackson on first visit: See Kligman, p. 30: When JP finally appeared, “It made going to the Cedar Bar all those dead nights worthwhile. Jackson Pollock had finally shown up.” “Hero”; “as other girls”: Kligman, p. 39.

  February 1956: Friedman, p. 232. “Made a beeline”: Flack. “The first moment”: Kligman. “I couldn’t take”: Kligman, p. 39. Jackson barely remembering her: Kligman. “Dark-haired girl”: See Kligman, p. 40; Kligman’s reconstruction of this conversation is somewhat different. “Very persistent”: Sonora. Two months: Terry Liss; see also Friedman, p. 232: “Pollock’s relationship with Ruth Kligman began casually in February 1956 and intensified in the spring.” Jackson drunk: Kligman claims he was sober, even though he came from the Cedar—an impossible notion; see Kligman, pp. 42–45. Jackson convinced he’d had sex: Krasner once told Stolbach that Kligman should have called Love Affair “‘My Five Fucks with Jackson Pollock’—because that’s all there were!” Myers says the affair was later called “the famous fuck”—meaning that JP and Ruth had made love, at most, one time; when Krasner overheard a group discussing that scenario, she turned to them and said, “Once?” Kligman later told Sonora that JP was too drunk to make love the whole time she was with him.

  “Woozy with drink”; “I can see”: Budd. “Why, Jackson”: De Kooning, q. by Kligman. “Keep your hands”: Q. by Kligman. “Can I see her”: Q. by Kligman. Picture taking: Carone. “Late model cream pull”: Q. in Potter, p. 228. “Brando and Monroe”: Kligman. El Chico: Kligman, p. 57. Eddie Condon’s: May 14, 1956; B. H. Friedman to authors, Feb. 27, 1984. Broadway shows: Kligman: E.g., Waiting for Godot. “Like stars”: Kligman, p. 58. “In the real world”: Kligman, p. 47. “Rich-looking”; “glamorous”: Kligman, p. 58. “Instead of staying”: B. H. Friedman, recalling Kligman.

  Kligman flattering: B. H. Friedman. Lovers’ games: Kligman, p. 81. Jackson slapping her; swooning: Kligman; see also Kligman, p. 152. “Old Wise Man”; “Lover”: Kligman, p. 88. A virgin; she didn’t argue: Kligman. Little, if any, sex: Sonora, recalling Kligman. Ruth preferring it that way; “metaphorical”: Kligman: “Sexuality is for me a metaphor.” Having desirable woman enough for Jackson: Terry Liss. Professing love for Kligman to Southgate: Southgate, q. in Potter, p. 231. Lee there during calls: Kligman; also Kligman, p. 54. “Just how old”: Q. by B. H. Friedman. “Permanent arrangements”: B. H. Friedman. “An amazing adventure”: Q. in Potter, p. 231. “Express himself”: CG, recalling JP. “Fuck appearances”: CG. “Expressing himself and enjoying”: Nancy Smith. Jackson knowing Lee’s vulnerability: Marca-Relli.

  Friends avoiding Jackson and Ruth: Friedman, p. 233. “Oh, fuck off”: Braider, q. in Potter, p. 231. “I will never”: Q. by Cile Downs (Lord), q. in Potter, p. 233. Proposed trip to Europe: LK. Job at Rattner School; unaware this would bring them together: Kligman, p. 72. This claim is difficult to take seriously, since Kligman had been to East Hampton often and had ridden the train, which stops in Sag Harbor. Condescending looks: Kligman. “In case someone invited”: Kligman, p. 76. Dinner at Elm Tree Inn: Kligman, p. 79. “Zaftig chick”: Ibram Lassaw. “His grin”: Potter, p. 228. “Frightened-looking”: Kligman, p. 84. “Juggling whiskey”: Friedman, pp. 225–26. Isaacs’s visit: Isaacs. “Lifelike”; “too involved”; “in shape”: Isaacs, q. in Potter, p. 230. “Trapped”: JP, q. by Kligman. “Talked about Jackson’s”: Nancy Smith. Kligman told to sever relationship: Kligman, p. 71. “Understand”; owed Lee “something”: Q. in Kligman, p. 162. Pregnancy: Kligman. When Kligman was told, “Jackson told people he had impregnated a woman during the last year of his life,” she responded, “No, he didn’t. He thought it was me, but it wasn’t.”

  Jackson boasting to Greenberg: CG: “He got someone pregnant that last year. He was so proud that he could.” “He wasn’t shooting blanks”: Heller. “Family stock”: See Kligman, pp. 86–87. Life with both women; Ruth accusing Jackson of cowardice: Kligman. “Thrilled with the idea”: Kligman; see also Kligman, p. 87. “She’ll be well”: Q. in Kligman, p. 86. “She was white”: Kligman, p. 95. Always making up: Jane Smith. Lee fixing drink; buying Lee a ticket: Southgate. “Anxious for the whole”: Dragon. “Trial separation”: Southgate. “We’ve been fighting”: Q. by Southgate. “Let her go”: Q. by JP, q. by Kligman. Dream of Jackson as Jesus: Jenkins, who heard it from Krasner in the Luxembourg Gardens on the day JP died. July 12: SMP to FLP, July 23, 1956. Day Schnabel: A sculptor. “Devastated”; “that Jackson”: Newman, int. by Peretz. “I can’t go”; “oh, I just”: Q. by Carol Braider, q. in Solomon, p. 247. “My doctor’s”: Q. by Ossorio, int. by Shorthall, Nov. 9, 1959.

  Kligman arriving in Springs: Contrary to the account in Kligman’s book, Rosenberg and Wilcox remember that, even on her first trip, Kligman came to Springs with a friend or friends, and that she was never alone with JP. Sleeping late: Kligman, p. 185. Panties: Kligman, p. 132. Kligman admiring house: Kligman, p. 103. “Awesome”; “in my twenty-one”: Kligman, p. 104. Calling “famous” artists: Kligman. Meals and movies: Kligman, p. 147. Watching television: Kligman, pp. 109, 154. “Where nobody”: Q. in Kligman, p. 111. “Very touching”; “he was wonderful”: Kligman. “Got rid of Lee”: Terry Liss.

  “Effect of Lee’s departure on relationship with Ruth: Terry Liss; B. H. Friedman: “It couldn’t have helped his relationship with Ruth that Lee was out of the country, because Lee was not there to be hurt by this thing.” Jackson deciding not to attend parties: B. H. Friedman. Dragging Kligman away: Friedman, p. 233. Overdressing and makeup: B. H. Friedman; Kligman, p. 107. “I don’t like”: Q. by Kligman. Jackson irritable: Kligman, p. 130. Pushing her away: Kligman. Sitting far away: CG; Kligman, p. 130. Snapping at her: Kligman, p. 116. Bullying her friends: See incident with Abe Glasser in Kligman, pp. 154–59. Fighting with her: James Brooks. “Why the hell”: Q. in Kligman, p. 127. Early to bed: Kligman. Roses: LK to JP, July 21, 1956. Lee out when roses arrived: LK. “The painting here”; gardens and flea markets; “dancing like mad”: LK to JP, July 22, 1956. Jenkinses: Jenkins. Traveler’s checks from Heller: Heller. Lee seeing friends: All except Heller from LK to JP, July 22, 1956. Gimpels: LK, q. in Weld, p. 387. Bluhm and Graham: Bluhm. Rarely speaking of Jackson: Jenkins. “As poor as Jackson”: Q. by Jenkins. Seeing Graham: Graham. “I miss you”: LK to JP, July 22, 1956.

  “Devilish game”: Kligman, p. 117. Resenting Jackson: Kligman, p. 117. Resenting his treatment in front of company: See, e.g., Kligman, p. 116. As if she wasn’t there: See, e.g., Kligman, p. 119. The way he talked about her: Friedman, p. 233. Driving around: See Potter, p. 235. Leaving her in car at Carone’s: Eleanor Ward, q.
in Potter, p. 235. “Why have you”: Q. by Cile Downs (Lord), q. in Potter, p. 234. “Are you a psychotic?”: Q. in Kligman, p. 169. Friends refusing to see her: Cile Lord. “Hostile”: Marca-Relli; see also Marca-Relli, q. in Potter, p. 233. Dinner with Lords: Cile Lord. Reaction to Jackson’s meanness: Cile Downs (Lord), q. in Potter, p. 233. “Jackson’s girl”: B. H. Friedman. “Rather earthy”: Brach. “Not East Hampton”: B. H. Friedman. “His friends obviously”: Kligman, p. 137. Bennington girls snubbing Ruth: Kligman, p. 122; Nancy Smith. “A piece of furniture”: Kligman, p. 122. Discussion of friendship: Nancy Smith. “[Clem] asked [Jackson]”: Kligman, p. 122. “[He] treated us”: Kligman, p. 123. “It’s very complicated”: Q. in Kligman, p. 123.

  Elaborate meals uneaten: Kligman, p. 153. “I owe the woman”: Q. in Kligman, p. 162. “All live together”: Q. in Kligman, p. 161. No effort to change will: Ossorio. “Cast aside”: Kligman, p. 152. “Bored to death”: Wagstaff. Friedman party: B. H. Friedman. “Coquettish”: Abby Friedman. “A woman like this”: B. H. Friedman. “Fuck you”: Q. by Kligman, q. by Wagstaff. “Don’t brag”: Q. in Namuth, n.p. Friedman given choice of drawings: B. H. Friedman. Friedman says he chose the smallest (OC&T 704, III, p. 211). Ruth’s gift disappearing: Friedman; CG; Kligman. Humiliating Ruth at Norman party: James Brooks. “In a white rage”; “like a broken doll”: Kligman, pp. 168–69. Jackson slapping her before and Ruth liking it: Kligman; see also, e.g., Kligman, p. 152; Friedman, p. 235. “Beat her up”; “real violence”: Terry Liss. Return to New York: Kligman, p. 171. Kligman’s book is intentionally obscure on dating. But JP was alone for at least a week prior to his death. This means that if she left on a Thursday, as she claimed, it had to be August 2.