A Night at the Museum - Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollack?
Chris and I made another "culturefying" trip last night to the Phoenix Art Museum to catch one of their Contemporary Forum summer movies. The place was standing room only and, after seeing the film, I can understand why. It was great.
The flick was "Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollack?". It's the story of Teri Horton, a 73 year old former truck driver who bought a painting at a thrift store for $5 for a friend. The friend thought it was ugly so Teri put it out in a garage sale where an art teacher told her it might be a Pollack. Her response is the title of the movie.
It's a fascinating story of art experts categorically denying it's a Pollack after initially ignoring Teri. She's what one would call a "character" so you can just imagine how much she wouldn't fit in with the artsy crowd.
Teri's son found a guy who uses CSI like techniques for verification. He discovered a fingerprint on the back of the canvas then matched it to another Pollack painting and also to a paint can in Pollack's studio. He also matched paint specks from the studio to the painting. Despite that, the art world still won't accept it as a Pollack.
Teri believes that the US art folks will never accept it as a Pollack because using forensics would put the so-called experts out of work.
Teri was at the screening and answered some questions afterward. She was offered $9,000,000 for the painting but refused to sell. Someone asked her what she offer she's waiting for and she said, "A fair one." The follow-up question was, "What's fair?" and she said, "I don't know." She is a character, that's for sure.
The flick was "Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollack?". It's the story of Teri Horton, a 73 year old former truck driver who bought a painting at a thrift store for $5 for a friend. The friend thought it was ugly so Teri put it out in a garage sale where an art teacher told her it might be a Pollack. Her response is the title of the movie.
It's a fascinating story of art experts categorically denying it's a Pollack after initially ignoring Teri. She's what one would call a "character" so you can just imagine how much she wouldn't fit in with the artsy crowd.
Teri's son found a guy who uses CSI like techniques for verification. He discovered a fingerprint on the back of the canvas then matched it to another Pollack painting and also to a paint can in Pollack's studio. He also matched paint specks from the studio to the painting. Despite that, the art world still won't accept it as a Pollack.
Teri believes that the US art folks will never accept it as a Pollack because using forensics would put the so-called experts out of work.
Teri was at the screening and answered some questions afterward. She was offered $9,000,000 for the painting but refused to sell. Someone asked her what she offer she's waiting for and she said, "A fair one." The follow-up question was, "What's fair?" and she said, "I don't know." She is a character, that's for sure.
