Jackson Pollock was an American artist of the 1930s and 1940s who created his own style of painting which earned him notoriety and fame. The artist's unhappy personal life, alcoholism and premature death in a car accident contributed to his legendary status (Pioch). Pollock's style in the second half of his career could best be described as action painting and although this is what the artist is best known for, during the first half of his career he also produced paintings on par with Picasso. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Jackson Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912 and raised in Arizona and California (Lapidus and Doughty). Pollock believed that “the boundless lands of these western areas greatly influenced his vast works of art” (Lapidus and Doughty). In 1929 Pollock moved east to study at the Students' League of New York under the regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton (“Jackson Pollock”). Pollock spent a few years studying with Benton, painting pictures of everyday life (Lapidus and Doughty). In his early twenties, Pollock suffered a nervous breakdown caused in part by depression and his alcoholism (Lapidus and Doughty). An expert working to understand the unconscious mind, dreams, and emotions treated Pollock and influenced how his inner world would soon become the subject of his paintings (Lapidus and Doughty). In 1945 Pollock married the American painter Lee Krasner and together they moved to East Hampton to get away from the busy life of New York and concentrate on their art (Lapidus and Doughty). It was here that Pollock began using the drip and pour style that made him famous. At the height of his fame Pollock abandoned the drip style and began using darker colors and reintroducing figurative elements (“Jackson Pollock”). Collectors demanded new paintings and this pressure, together with personal frustration, led to an increasing addiction to alcohol in the artist ("Jackson Pollock"). On August 11, 1956, at the age of forty-four, Pollock died in an automobile accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. Both Pollock and his lover, Ruth Kilgman, died on impact (“Jackson Pollock”). During the 1930s Pollock painted in a regionalist style, learned from Benton, with the influence of Mexican mural painters and certain aspects of surrealism (“Jackson Pollock”). The works he produced during this period were typical of this period and resembled the works of other artists such as Picasso. Pollock's piece “The Moon-Woman” produced in 1942 illustrates his earlier style learned through Benton. “The Moon Woman” has similarities to Picasso's “Dora Maar Seated.” Both images use a bright color palette and depict a woman, although both women are portrayed in different ways. Each of these women has the distinctive frontal eye and profiled nose that Picasso is known for during his Cubist period, although only one of these paintings is by Picasso himself. At the beginning of the film Pollock, a documentary about the artist's life, a disgust towards Picasso is evident when Pollock drunkenly rants about how his work is better than Picasso's, but Picasso is the one who gets all the fame, glory and the money. This outburst ends with him screaming “FUCK PICASSO! FUCKING PICASSO!” (Pollock). Although this film is only a documentary starring Ed Harris and not a biography of the artist himself, Pollock's feelings towards Picasso are noted and expressed. These feelings of resentment are understandable when looking at his early works and comparing them to.