This concise study of Jackson Pollock provides a reliable survey of his life and work and an understanding of his paintings--their origins, meanings, and influence. Unlike other books on Pollock that deal extensively with his life or with formal analysis of his works, Cernuschi's is broadly interpretive, discussing and explaining concerns and meanings crucial to an understanding of Pollock's paintings. The first part of the book surveys Pollock's life and work with particular attention to the artist's intentions and the interpretation of abstraction. The second part deals with the issues raised by Pollock's art above and beyond his intentions and how these issues intersect with the work of his contemporaries and with other intellectual currents. The final chapter discusses Pollock's influence and the importance of criticism in shaping this influence. It also deals with the problems of defining modernism and postmodernism. Thoughtful and accessible, Cernuschi's study explains the complexity and meaning of Pollock's art for anyone interested in twentieth-century art and the pivotal position of Jackson Pollock in art since 1945. There are notes, a selected bibliography, and an index.