11 Captivating Insights into Jackson Pollock’s ‘No. 5, 1948’

It’s tempting to write off Jackson Pollock’s No. 5, 1948 as an incoherent splash of color—but even if its visual appeal doesn’t resonate with you, the backstory of this masterpiece is undeniably valuable, both in artistic significance and financial worth. Here are 10 things to know about this iconic work.

1. No. 5, 1948 is a cornerstone of the Abstract Expressionist movement.

After World War II, New York City artists like Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, and Willem de Kooning began redefining the boundaries of painting, a shift that would come to be known as 'Abstract Expressionism,' a term coined by art critic Robert Coates in 1946. This transformative art movement positioned New York as the epicenter of the art world, thanks in part to its endorsement by influential figures like collector and patron Peggy Guggenheim. Pollock’s signature contribution was his drip paintings, including No. 5, 1948.

2. Jackson Pollock employed a distinct technique for his drips.

Instead of using a traditional easel, Pollock placed his canvas on the ground and moved around it, creating his drips by letting paint fall from brushes, sticks, and syringes. Though he only began exploring this technique the year before No. 5, 1948 was created, his style quickly became so iconic that he earned the nickname “Jack the Dripper.”

“On the floor I am more at ease,” Pollock said. “I feel closer, more connected to the painting, because this way I can walk around it, work from all four sides, and literally be in the painting.”

3. No. 5, 1948 marks the dawn of ‘action painting.’

Drip painting became recognized as a form of ‘action painting,’ a phrase first introduced by American art critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952. In a catalogue for a 1958 exhibition at The Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, Rosenberg wrote, “Action Painting involves self-creation, self-definition, or self-transcendence; it distances itself from self-expression, which relies on accepting the ego as it is, with all its flaws and its allure.”

4. Pollock didn’t use sketches or do any pre-planning for No. 5, 1948.

Pollock’s approach was groundbreaking on multiple fronts. For centuries, artists had been sketching or planning their large paintings. Not Pollock—his work was driven entirely by instinct and emotion as he moved around his fiberboard, dropping and flicking paint according to his intuition. Eschewing traditional brushwork for drips and splashes, he set the art world alight with these spontaneous masterpieces.

5. He used non-traditional paints for No. 5, 1948.

An essential aspect of the drip technique was using paint with a fluid consistency that allowed for easy pouring. Traditional oil paints and watercolors weren’t suitable for this purpose. Instead, Pollock experimented with synthetic gloss enamel paints, which were replacing old-fashioned, oil-based house paints. While this inventive choice was widely praised, Pollock dismissed it as ‘a natural evolution from a need.’

6. For a period, No. 5, 1948 held the title of the world’s most expensive painting.

On June 18, 2006, Gustav Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer I sold for $135 million, setting the record for the most expensive painting at the time. Less than five months later, No. 5, 1948 was sold for $140 million. In 2011, this record was broken by Paul Cézanne’s Card Players, which sold for $250 million. Then in 2016, Salvator Mundi—which some attribute to Leonardo da Vinci—was sold for $450.5 million, surpassing all other contenders for the title of the world’s most expensive painting by a staggering $150 million.

7. No. 5, 1948 is an enormous piece of art.

No. 5, 1948 measures a towering 8 feet by 4 feet. The Guardian points out that this means each square foot is valued at more than $4 million.

8. No. 5, 1948 may have been sold to finance a bid for the Los Angeles Times.

The New York Times reported that entertainment mogul David Geffen may have sold No. 5, 1948 in the 2006 auction, alongside works by Jasper Johns and Willem de Kooning, to raise enough money for a bid on the LA Times. The sale of these three paintings brought in $28 million. Despite this, Geffen never managed to acquire the newspaper, despite his repeated attempts, even going as far as offering $2 billion. In cash.

9. No. 5, 1948 wasn’t the only record-setting work Pollock created.

In 1973, Pollock’s 1952 painting Blue Poles sold for $2 million. While far less than the price of No. 5, 1948, this sum was enough to make it the most expensive contemporary American artwork at the time. Tragically, Pollock never saw either of his paintings achieve this level of fame—a car accident on August 11, 1956, ended his life too soon.

10. The painting made an appearance in a movie—and was also mentioned in a song.

No. 5, 1948 is featured in the 2015 sci-fi film Ex Machina, starring Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson, and directed by Alex Garland. Garland explained to Set Decor magazine, "There was something about what Pollock was attempting as a painter—his use of the automatic process, trying to paint in an unconscious way—that aligned with the themes of the film." The painting is also referenced in the song “Going Down” by the Stone Roses: “There she looks like a painting / Jackson Pollock’s No. 5 ... ”

11. No. 5, 1948 and Pollock’s other works continue to baffle many viewers.

While art critics rave and collectors spend millions at auction for a Pollock piece, a significant portion of the public still struggles to understand the artist’s work, even more than 60 years later. Each time one of his paintings sells for a fortune, articles emerge questioning why. The simple answer is, while his drip paintings may not be universally accessible, they were groundbreaking, reshaping the very concept of art. They may not be conventionally beautiful, but they represent both art and art history.