Jackson Pollock painted One: Number 31, 1950, which belongs to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum collection.
The monumental abstract-expressionist painting was made in 1950, a crucial period in Pollock’s career. Like his better-known drip paintings, it uses poured and splattered paint rather than a conventional scene or clearly outlined subject.
The work is associated with Pollock’s all-over style, in which the painted surface has no obvious central focus. Its title combines the word “One” with a number and the year of creation.
Pollock is often grouped with Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning because all three were major American artists of Abstract Expressionism. They had different methods, however: Pollock’s poured lines and splashes are especially distinctive.