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concept:era modern

Full Fathom Five

Oil on canvas with embedded objects by Jackson Pollock, 1947. 129.2 × 76.5 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York. An early example of Pollock's poured/drip technique, notable for containing embedded detritus. Titled from Ariel's song in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Scholarly Significance

Abstract Expressionism — one of Pollock's earliest all-over drip paintings; contains embedded detritus (coins, nails, buttons) and is titled from Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Notes

  • ·Title comes from Ariel's song in Act I, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's The Tempest: 'Full fathom five thy father lies; / Of his bones are coral made...' — suggesting transformation through immersion.
  • ·One of Pollock's earliest all-over drip paintings; the vertical format contrasts with the horizontal monumentality of later works.
  • ·Embedded objects include nails, tacks, buttons, a key, coins, a cigarette, and paint-tube caps; these objects become submerged in the painting surface.
  • ·Gift of Peggy Guggenheim to MoMA in 1952; Guggenheim was Pollock's first major institutional patron.
  • ·The embedded-object dimension anticipates later Combine painting (Rauschenberg) and Arte Povera material strategies.