<DIV><P>"On the floor I am more at ease, I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around in it, work from the four sides and be literally ‘in’ the painting."—Jackson Pollock, 1947</P><P>Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) was the commanding figure of American Abstract Expressionism. By the mid-1940s, he was painting in a completely abstract manner, and the "drip and splash" style for which he is best known emerged rather abruptly in 1947. This manner of Action Painting had in common with Surrealist theories of automatism that artists and critics alike supposed it to -result in a direct expression or revelation of the unconscious moods of the artist. Advanced critics strongly supported Pollock, but he was also subject to much abuse and sarcasm; in 1956, <I>Time </I>magazine called him "Jack the Dripper." By the 1960s, however, he was generally recognized as the most important figure in this century’s most important movement in American painting. His unhappy personal life and his premature death in a car crash contributed to his legendary status.</P><P>This catalogue book was first published on the occasion of a noted exhibition at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, Germany. It presents important paintings as well as graphic works from the New York Museum of Modern Art and from several European collections, for example, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.</P><P><B>Volkmar Essers </B>is curator at the museum Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf. He specializes in and has published on Abstract Expressionism.</P></DIV>