the artist, Springs, N.Y. (until d. 1956; his estate, New York, 1956–62); Lee Krasner Pollock, New York (1962–d. 1984; her estate, New York, 1984–90; sold to MMA)
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum. "Continuity and Change: 45 American Abstract Painters and Sculptors," April 12–May 27, 1962, no. 116 (as “Two Sketch Books,” c. 1931–34, lent by Lee Krasner Pollock).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Jackson Pollock," April 5–June 4, 1967, no. 86 (as "Self–Portrait with Studies after El Greco's 'Healing of the Blind Man,' 'Holy Family,' and 'Betrothal of the Virgin,' lent by the estate of the artist).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Jackson Pollock," July 9–September 3, 1967, no. 86.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Jackson Pollock: Early Sketchbooks and Drawings," October 21, 1997–February 8, 1998, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Jackson Pollock," November 1, 1998–February 2, 1999, no. 18 (only recto shown).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Pollock Draws El Greco," September 30, 2003–January 11, 2004, no catalogue.
Nagoya. Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. "Jackson Pollock: A Centennial Retrospective," November 11, 2011–January 22, 2012, no. 4.
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. "Jackson Pollock: A Centennial Retrospective," February 10–May 6, 2012, no. 4.
Bryan Robertson. Jackson Pollock. New York, 1960, pp. 97–98, pl. 91 (recto), dates it c. 1930–34; lists it among works containing "all the seeds...for Pollock's future development".
Francis V. O'Connor. "The Genesis of Jackson Pollock, 1912 to 1943." PhD diss., Johns Hopkins University, 1965, pp. 137, 140, pl. 11 (recto), identifies this drawing as a study of El Greco's "Christ Healing the Blind" and comments that it reflects little interest in his teacher Thomas Hart Benton's desire to "break the picture plane"; states that the face in the lower–left corner may be a self–portrait, proving that Pollock could handle the complexities of the human face although he generally chose not to.
B. H. Friedman. Jackson Pollock: Energy Made Visible. New York, 1972, unpaginated, ill., tentatively dates this sketchbook drawing to the late 1930s; observes that while done after his studies with Benton, it still reflects the latter's influence; identifies the upper and lower right studies as based on three paintings by El Greco and the face in the lower–left corner as a self–portrait.
Italo Tomassoni. Pollock. New York, 1978, pp. 18, 31, ill. p. 19, calls it "Drawing," 1933–33, in the Lee Krasner Pollock collection, New York.
Francis Valentine O'Connor and Eugene Victor Thaw, ed. Jackson Pollock: A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Drawings, and Other Works. Vol. 3, Drawings, 1930–1956. New Haven, 1978, pp. 23–24, no. 410, ill. (recto and verso), date it ca. 1933–38; identify the motifs on the recto as copied from El Greco's "Christ Healing the Blind," "Holy Family with Bowl of Fruit," and "Betrothal of the Virgin" and on the verso from El Greco's "Virgin," "Concert of Angels," and "Annunciation"; identify the face in the lower left of the recto as a self–portrait.
Ellen G. Landau. Jackson Pollock. New York, 1989, p. 28, ill. p. 30 (recto, color), dates it 1933–38.
Katharine Baetjer. "Pollock Interprets the Old Masters: Sketchbooks I and II." The Jackson Pollock Sketchbooks in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1997, pp. 48,51, p. 85, nos. I:9r and I:9v.
Nan Rosenthal. "The Pollock Sketchbooks: An Introduction." The Jackson Pollock Sketchbooks in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1997, p. 21, dates it 1933–38; identifies the portrait in the lower left as the artist's only known self–portrait drawing "and the only image in his own hand of himself as an adult".
Kirk Varnedoe in Kirk Varnedoe Pepe Karmel. Jackson Pollock. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1998, p. 25, colorpl. 18 (recto).
Jeffrey Schrader inEl Greco & la pintura moderna. Ed. Javier Barón. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2014, p. 255, fig. 164 (recto, color).
Joanne Snrech inJackson Pollock: The Early Years, 1934–1947. Exh. cat., Musée National Picasso-Paris. Paris, 2024, pp. 13, 195, fig. 2 (color).
Jackson Pollock (American, Cody, Wyoming 1912–1956 East Hampton, New York)
ca. 1943
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.