Male and Female is a painting created by the prominent American artist Jackson Pollock in 1942 and 1943. This masterpiece was part of his solo exhibition at the Art of This Century gallery in 1943, where he exhibited his art along with other famous artists of that time. During the period of creating this painting, Pollock went through psychoanalysis, and his therapists encouraged him to create artworks as a part of treatment.
Heavily influenced and inspired by fellow painters Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso, Male and Female shows Pollock’s early use of drip painting as a technique for which he later became famous worldwide. In this artwork, it can be seen that Pollock detached the line from color – something that set him apart from other artists during that time.
One important fact about Male and Female is that it has been subjected to iconographic analysis comparing its symbols with Peruvian Chavin art. Moreover, Jackson Pollock embraced Surrealism early in his career as seen in this painting along with another one called The Moon Woman. Notably, it was after creating Male and Female that Jackson finally developed his famous artistic method of flinging and dripping thinned enamel paint onto canvas which continued until he passed away in 1956.
