Pollack's "Poglins" can be seen in each of his oil paintings, creating layers of faces and bodies with a whimsy and fascinating mix

of swirl and life.

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Reginald Pollack

(American, 1924 - 2001)

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Reginald Pollack was an identical twin born of Jewish parents, who came to the United States from Hungary.  His father, who was a tailor at Lord & Taylor in New York City, took the twins to the Metropolitan Museum every weekend where they learned about art and began drawing.

 

After graduating from the High School of Music and Art Reginald served in the Second World War.  After the war and a few years developing window displays in New York City, Reginald traveled to Paris using the GI Bill to support himself and to pursue his ambition of becoming a painter.  

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Pollack forged important associations with many artists during his career including Arthur Drexler, curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and architect Wallace Harrison.  Pollack became a founding member of Galerie Huit, the first galerie in Paris operated by Americans; the Galerie’s membership included 12 artists, all World War II Veterans. 

 

He was fortunate enough to also find a studio space at Impasse Ronsin with Constantin Brancusi, the famous Rumanian sculptor, who became his mentor.  During his 12 year stay in France Reginald attended Academie de la Grand Chaumiere and restored two little houses in Provence, before returning to the USA.

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In the late 1950s Pollack had been engaged to Helen Frankenthaler, but that relationship came to an end when Pollack moved back to Europe. Upon his return to the United States in 1960 Pollack became an art instructor and Visiting Critic of Art at Yale University. 

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Reginald developed as a painter and sculptor, had exhibits, was a visiting critic of art and became interested in Jungian philosophy.  He participated in and founded many important printmaking societies, including The Drum Lithographs: 1960-1963.

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After moving back to New York City in 1969 he met and married Kerstin Binns, a Swedish-Danish Diplomat a few years later.  She was to be his muse for the rest of his life.  In 1996 they spent two years north of Burbank, CA, and in 1998 moved to Palm Springs, CA, where Reginald painted and sculpted the last years of his life. 

 

Pollack's early work consists of drawings, paintings and printmaking -- while his later work (Post 1970) was painted using oil and sometimes pencil or marker to create his imaginative hyper-layered works of faces, "Poglins" and swirls.   The Poglins were named as combination of Pollack's own name and the "goblin-like" creatures that inhabit his works.  His work is truly a multi-layered, sometimes "Bosch-like" approach to conveying the meaning he was imparting to his audience.  Spending time with one of his works is an adventure in finding new figures and feelings.

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www.reginaldpollackfineart.com

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