Painting Number 2
1954 · Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Black bars crossing a white ground, enlarged from small ink sketches so the speed and weight of the arm survive the scaling up.
★ 5.2
The Art canon
Sourced and hung.
Every work chosen by hand and annotated for why it matters.
Browse all 704 works or filter by movement, subject, place, and artist.
Browse all 704 works or filter by movement, subject, place, and artist.
Convergence
1952 · Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Black, white, red and blue flung edge to edge with nowhere for the eye to settle. The Cold War made it a symbol of American freedom.
★ 7.1
Number 11, 1952 (Blue Poles)
1952 · National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Eight ragged dark blue poles lean across the poured web and give it a beat. Australia's purchase in 1973 caused a national row.
★ 8.0
Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)
1950 · Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pollock worked on the floor and moved around the canvas instead of standing at an easel, laying black enamel across raw cotton in 1950.
★ 8.6