Who The #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?

Tuesday, November 15

7:30 PM

DFAB Room 131

The second film in our "Art That Moves" series will be Who The #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?, a 2006 documentary film that relates the story of Teri Horton, a no-nonsense, crass, foul-mouth elderly lady who purchased what she considered to be an "ugly painting" for five dollars from a thrift shop as a gag gift for a friend.

Here is an image of that painting:

Upon seeing the painting, a local art teacher tells Teri that she may have purchased a painting by Jackson Pollock, the famous American "action painter" and member of the Abstract Expressionist movement of the mid twentieth century.  If this is true, the painting could potentially be worth tens of millions of dollars.  This film follows Teri as she butts heads with some of the most elite experts, appraisers, and businessmen of the the art world establishment, most of whom refuse to acknowledge Teri's painting as a genuine Pollock.

The New Line Cinema website gives the following synopsis of the film:

When Teri Horton bought a painting in a thrift shop for five dollars, she was stunned when a friend told her that it looked like an original Jackson Pollock and could be worth millions. Working with a leading forensic scientist, Teri learned that a fingerprint on the back of her canvas matched a fingerprint found on a can of paint in Jackson Pollock's studio. More research showed that paint on the floor of Pollock's studio matched the paint on Teri's canvas. Realizing that a Pollock painting the size of hers was worth upwards of $50 million, Teri thought she had won the lottery. “Not so fast,” the art establishment answered, proclaiming her painting worthless. This feature-length documentary captures the 15-year debate between the world’s most prestigious art collectors, authenticators and experts and the feisty, 73 year-old grandma who would not give up.


Please join us in Room 131 of the Dickey Fine Arts Building (and I have been assured that it is reserved for us) at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, November 15 for an extremely funny look at the business side of art as seen through the eyes of someone who knows very little, and cares even less, about high art.

"How much is a work of art worth?" is a question that is often answered with, "Whatever people will pay for it."  However, this film has a different answer: "It depends on who you ask."