Action Jackson by Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan, Robert Andrew Parker (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

One late spring morning the American artist Jackson Pollock began work on the canvas that would ultimately come to be known as Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist).

Award-winning authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan use this moment as the departure point for a unique picture book about a great painter and the way in which he worked. Their lyrical text, drawn from Pollock's own comments and those made by members of his immediate circle, is perfectly complemented by vibrant watercolors by Robert Andrew Parker that honor his spirit of the artist without imitating his paintings.

A photographic reproduction of the finished painting, a short biography, a bibliography, and a detailed list of notes and sources that are fascinating reading in their own right make this an authoritative as well as beautiful book for readers of all ages.

Publishers Weekly

Nicknamed "Action Jackson" for his kinetic style, abstract artist Jackson Pollack takes the spotlight in this outstanding picture book biography. Collaborators Greenberg and Jordan (Chuck Close: Up Close) frame their account around a significant period in Pollack's life in 1950, when he created Number 1, 1950 (also called Lavender Mist), one of his most famous paintings. Readers follow Pollack into his barn studio, watch over his shoulder as he lays the canvas on the floor and begins to work all the while learning about his early life and influences ("Like the Native American sand painters he saw as a boy out West, he moves around the canvas coaxing the paint into loops and curves"). Weaving in quotes from Pollack himself and such child-friendly details as the artist's pets (including a tame crow named Caw Caw), the authors craft an imaginative account grounded in solid research and enlivened with lyrical prose ("He swoops and leaps like a dancer, paint trailing from a brush that doesn't touch the canvas"). Parker (To Fly, reviewed below) suggests the artist's graceful motion with the barest of penstrokes; in one spread, Pollock's body curves across both pages as he paints. Whether capturing the intensity of the creative process and the artist's unique choreography or the spare vistas of sea and sky near the artist's Long Island home, Parker's impressionistic pen-and-watercolor illustrations pay homage to the painter's sweep of line and color ("energy and motion made visible," to quote Pollack). An extensive afterword offers notes and sources, as well as photos of Pollack at work and quotes from his friends and colleagues. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-6-Ed Harris, the actor who played artist Jackson Pollock in the 2000 film, Pollock, narrates this award-winning book By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan (Roaring Brook, 2002). Harris's narration is expressive and warm, as listeners are given a peek into the life of a usually private man. This picture book biography focuses on a two-month period when he created Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist). It explores how Jackson worked, what inspired him, and his daily routine. His groundbreaking techniques were influenced by music, nature, and other artists. Though controversial, his splattered abstract paintings were truly unique and innovative for his time. Sound effects and jazzy musical interludes add richness to the story. Page-turn signals are included on track one. Pauses in narration and before the signals encourage the listener to linger over Robert Andrew Parker's colorful and energetic illustrations. The book contains an extended biography, notes, sources, and a bibliography not included in the audio version. An excellent addition to a school and public library collections.-April Mazza, Wayland Public Library, MA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Art history specialists Greenberg and Jordan (Boston Globe/Horn Book–winning Chuck Close, Up Close, 1998; Sibert Honor–winning Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of An Artist, 2001) have again pushed the nonfiction envelope with this astonishing biography cum evocation of action painter and abstract expressionist icon Jackson Pollock. Dubbed "Action Jackson"—or sometimes even "Jack the Dripper"—by critics and admirers alike, Pollock is an acknowledged reference point for all late-20th-century painters. His influence has captivated the likes of illustrators Norman Rockwell and Ian Falconer and even actor-directors like Ed Harris. How to parse a painter like Pollock? In a stroke of expository genius, they focus on a semi-imagined account of an intense period in Pollock's life—May through June 1950. The brief frenzy of work that produced the transcendent and transformational painting "Number 1, 1950" known as "Lavender Mist." Greenberg and Johnson make strategic use of contemporaneous accounts and press sources including Hans Namuth’s photos and documentary film. The book’s back matter includes the terrifically interesting and surprisingly complete two pages of notes and sources. A perfect little biographical essay offers all the needed details including this poignant passage, a discreet but unsparing observation that: "Jackson struggled with alcoholism and depression for most of his adult life. When he was sober, he painted well, but when he was drinking he felt discouraged and temperamental." In tandem with this, it is hard to convey the equally astonishing strength of Parker’s illustrations. A widely exhibited watercolorist of considerable renown (winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award forCold Feet, 2000), Parker shows us both the mood and sensibility of the painter while he demonstrates the how of Pollock’s technique. His semi-realistic and pleasingly spiky India Ink drawings are heightened with expansive gloriously transparent watercolor washes in palette that often subtly reflect the colors and values of Pollock’s "Lavender Mist." Parker evokes Pollock’s painting with his own painter’s hand. He masterfully conveys painting as an active dance of form and color. This stunning collaboration is both a tour de force and an uncommon pleasure.

Product Details

• ISBN: 0312367511
  
• ISBN-13: 9780312367510
• Format: Paperback, 32pp
• Publisher: Square Fish
• Pub. Date: June 2007
• Edition Description: Reprint
• Sales Rank: 69,594
• Age Range: 6 to 10
• Series: Robert F. Sibert Honor Bks.