"Jackson Pollock is widely considered the most challenging and influential American artist of the twentieth century. In his revolutionary paintings of the late 1940s, he poured paint into complex webs of interlacing lines, rhythmically punctuated by pools of color. With their allover composition, apparent abstraction, and spontaneous but controlled paint-handling, these powerful works announced the emergence of Abstract Expressionism.". "In 1998-99, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, organized a landmark retrospective of Pollock's work, making it possible for a new generation of artists and viewers to experience his paintings firsthand. During the exhibition, nine leading scholars gathered at the Museum to discuss Pollock's work and its meaning today. Their essays, collected in this volume, demonstrate the continued relevance of Pollock's work for contemporary art, and the vitality and diversity of contemporary criticism."--BOOK JACKET.