Famed American abstract-expressionist painter Jackson Pollock worked in a predictable paint-splattered home studio in East Hampton on Long Island, New York. Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner, moved to the house in 1945. After Krasner’s death in the 1980’s, the house was converted into an art museum and educational space at the request of the artist.

The studio inside Pollock’s home is rather Spartan – the wood paneled walls and floor create a fairly dark aesthetic that reminds me a little bit of Francis Bacon’s studio. Somewhat cramped, packed with artwork and not particularly well-lit. Pollock’s studio, however, did have a large and interesting window on one wall, which can be seen in the below photo. I’m sure this window was enough to let in all of the light that Pollock needed to work, considering his paintings were focused more on process than on fine detail. In the same photo it looks like there are some spaces in between the slats of wood – I wonder if Pollock’s studio got quite cold in the winters.

Pollock usually laid his canvases out on the floor to produce his paintings, meaning that the floor of his studio would have grown to be covered in paint over time. Perhaps the floor of the studio became something of an extension of his painted works. It would certainly be inspiring to see that same floor today.

The artist had a trolley to hold several buckets of paint and his large brushes, as well as a stool – perhaps to sit on to think about the next step in his work, or to get a better reach to drip paint over the center of a very large canvas. In the background of these two photos, some finished canvases are visible – I wonder if flying paint from a current project ended up altering these works in any way. 

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