LIFE Magazine's Classic Photos

Jackson Pollock, 1949
By Martha Holmes
LIFE's editors had heard that something weird and new—and perhaps important—was happening on Long Island, so Martha Holmes traveled to meet with the artist Jackson Pollock. Holmes recorded her day, including a session in the studio during which Pollock demonstrated his avant-garde technique by applying house paint and sand to a canvas that would become known as "Number 1, 1949." Holmes's pictures made the abstract expressionist famous when they graced the August 8 article, "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?"

• The Book, "Life, the Classic Collection"