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Circumcision
January 1946
Oil on canvas
142,3 x 168 cm
76.2553 PG 145 |
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In this transitional work of 1946 the subtle persistence
of the Cubist grid system is felt in the panels that
organize the composition and orient major pictorial
details in vertical or horizontal positions. However,
Jackson Pollock’s
dependence on Pablo Picasso
has virtually dissolved, giving way to a more automatic,
fluidly expressive style. Line loses its descriptive
function and begins to assume a self-sufficient role,
the rhythm, duration, and direction of each brushstroke
responding to the artist’s instinctual gesture.
The compositional focus is multiplied and decentralized,
and areas of intense activity fill the entire surface.
Primitive art forms are alluded to in the crudely drawn
arrows, cult and stick figures, and ornamental markings
discernable in Circumcision. Totemic figures are posed
stiffly, observing what seems to be a scene of violence
in the center of the canvas. The enactment of a rite
of passage is suggested, but the visual evidence does
not encourage a specific reading.
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