When art goes to the movies: Jackson Pollock

No big surprise to regular OTN readers that much of the art you see in the movies is made for the occasion, whatever the signature. Usually this task is taken on by the movie's art department but in the case of Pollock, enter Method actor (so Method he collapsed on set with the strain of playing the part) Ed Harris. Determined to make a uniquely accurate account of Pollock’s life, Harris spent a couple of years working in the artist's style making it plain that the only person who was going to paint the paintings in the movie was Ed Harris. “I'd been painting and drawing off and on since I became committed to making this film. I had a little studio built so I'd have enough floor space to work on larger canvases.” You can see Harris painting a tribute Pollock-like product (although on a canvas leaning against the wall rather than on the floor) and compare it with the real Pollock painting.
Image: Ed doing a Jackson