Pollock

Starring: Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden

Release: 2000

When is an artist considered a success? When the first canvas is sold? When the work can financially provide a comfortable life? When a piece gives its creator personal satisfaction? Or is there something else that defines success? These questions are central to this week"s film,
Pollock, the 2000 film that portrays Jackson Pollock"s rise to artistic fame and his relationship with his wife, painter Lee Krasner. Beginning shortly before the two painters meet (she seeks him out after learning that they each would have a painting in the same exhibition) and ending with his death, the film investigates the artists" conflicting definitions of success.

Throughout the film, Pollock experiences various landmarks that would seem to indicate artistic success. Peggy Guggenheim features his work in her gallery, invites him to paint a mural for her home, and becomes his official patron. He has individual exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. He is the subject of a Time article. Photographer Hans Namuth spends several months filming and photographing him. He becomes as much a household name as any contemporary artist can.