id:			153754
accession number:	1987.55
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1987.55
updated:		2022-10-29 15:42:42.421000

Myth of the Western Man , 1986. Robert Arneson (American, 1930–1992). Ceramic; overall: 221.6 x 161.3 x 150.5 cm (87 1/4 x 63 1/2 x 59 1/4 in.); head: 51.4 cm (20 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1987.55 © Estate of Robert Arneson / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

title:				Myth of the Western Man 
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1986
creation date earliest:		1986
creation date latest:		1986
current location:		
creditline:			Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright:			© Estate of Robert Arneson / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

---

culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	ceramic
department:	Contemporary Art
collection:	CONTEMP - Sculpture
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

* Robert Arneson (American, 1930–1992)  - artist

---

measurements: Overall: 221.6 x 161.3 x 150.5 cm (87 1/4 x 63 1/2 x 59 1/4 in.); Head: 51.4 cm (20 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

---

PROVENANCE

	(Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York).
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


---

fun fact: 


digital description: 


wall description: 
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), the famous Abstract Expressionist painter, is the subject of Robert Arneson's Myth of the Western Man. This work is the largest of a series of 50 sculpted portraits, begun in 1982, in which Arneson explored the complexities of the life, death, art, and myth of Pollock, who died in an automobile accident in 1956. The piece is also part of a larger body of work that pays tribute to artists Arneson admired. Compelling and expressive, the huge portrait depicts Pollock with an unwavering stare that confronts the viewer. Cracks running throughout the ceramic head recall the random, all-over patterns characteristic of Pollock's "drip" compositions, in which he poured and splattered paint directly onto a canvas laid on the floor. Arneson's monumental sculpture sits atop a carved redwood pedestal and a painted platform that is littered with ceramic cigarette butts and bits of paper and paint—all meant to simulate the floor of Pollock's studio.
---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

---

IMAGES