Blue Poles
Blue Poles, also known as Number 11, 1952, is an abstract expressionist painting by the American artist Jackson Pollock. It was purchased amid controversy by the National Gallery of Australia in 1973 and today remains one of the gallery's major paintings.
Title
At the time of the painting's creation, Pollock preferred not to assign names to his works, but rather numbers; hence, the original title of the painting was simply Number 11 or No. 11 for the year 1952. In 1954, the new title Blue Poles was first seen at an exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery; it reportedly originated from Pollock himself.According to art historian Dennis Phillips, the specific rather than ambiguous title "limits our field of comprehension and does the painting a singular disservice. Because we look for the poles and miss much of the rest, the name is simply too distracting."
History
1955–1957: Fred Olsen
were the original purchasers of Blue Poles from Jackson Pollock when they purchased it for $8,000, the highest price paid for a Pollock at that time. It hung in their New York apartment.1957–1973: New York art collector Ben Heller
Renowned art collector and supporter Ben Heller acquired the painting in 1957 a year after Jackson Pollock died for a reported $32,000. Heller was friends with Pollock and patronized him and many other American artists during his lifetime.Blue Poles hung in the living room of Heller's 10th floor New York apartment on Central Park West. During this time he frequently had guests view the art and loaned it to various museums for additional viewing. The painting was so large that it required the removal of apartment windows to lower it onto the street below, a feat accomplished with the support of the "Seven Santini Brothers" moving team. The Heller family had a special relationship with the artwork and it was difficult to see it go.
According to Heller's daughter, "He was very involved with this art movement from its early years, and there was a struggle among these American artists to gain recognition. Even in America, the European painters were getting all the attention and prestige. So, he worked very hard with the dealers and the painters and the museums to try to establish Abstract Expressionism as an important movement. It was very, very important to him that these major works land in major museums." This desire to have the work shared was one of the contributing factors to the sale of Blue Poles to the National Gallery of Australia in 1973.