“A child could have done that” is a common response to modern art. Recently, a researcher published a study in the journal Frontiers in Physics examining whether this familiar claim holds any truth. The study argued that Jackson Pollock’s famous pour-painting technique displays childlike characteristics.
“Our study shows that the artistic patterns generated by children are distinguishable from those created by adults when using the pouring technique made famous by Pollock,” said Professor Richard Taylor, a physicist, psychologist, and artist at the University of Oregon, who is the study’s senior author. “Remarkably, our findings suggest that children’s paintings bear a closer resemblance to Pollock’s than those created by adults.”
To test this hypothesis, Taylor recruited 18 children and 34 adults and asked them to recreate Pollock-style compositions by splashing diluted paint onto sheets of paper placed on the floor.
Pollock’s “drip-painting” style, which he developed in the late 1940s, is easily recognisable. He would spread a canvas on the floor and then drip, pour, or fling fluid paint across it. Instead of traditional paintbrushes, he used sticks, hardened brushes, and even turkey basters, moving around the canvas in a way that would later become known as action painting. The result was his famous “all-over” compositions without a central focus, created through a physical and emotional engagement which he often described as trance-like.
Many studies have examined Pollock’s technical mastery, as well as the challenge of distinguishing authentic works from forgeries. These studies point to two recurring conclusions. Firstly, Pollock managed to avoid coiling instability, which is a common failure mode in poured paint and one of the hallmarks used in authentication. This control is evident in video footage from 1950, in which the artist states that he “can control the flow of paint. There are no accidents.” Secondly, his work displays fractal characteristics.
Taylor, a long-time admirer of Pollock, first made this latter finding when he detected fractal patterns in the painter’s seemingly random drip trajectories.
@better_already 🎨 how to paint like jackson pollock #art #paint #jacksonpollock #artistsoftiktok #painting #moma #modernart #artwork ♬ original sound – Better Already
Fractals are patterns that repeat at different scales. These patterns can be found in nature, such as in trees, clouds, and mountains, as well as in the art and built environments of many cultures, including the layout of traditional African villages, textiles and beadwork, ancient Indian temple design, the geometric patterns of Islamic art, and Celtic knotwork. Fractal patterns are known to reduce stress through their aesthetic impact.
Taylor’s new study found that, when measuring the scaling behaviour of paint distributed in space (fractal analysis) and the variations in the gaps between paint clusters (lacunarity), the paintings of adults showed higher paint densities and wider trajectories. In contrast, the paintings of children showed finer, smaller-scale patterns with more gaps between clusters. Their marks followed simpler, more one-dimensional trajectories that changed direction less frequently, similar to Pollock’s lines.
© Fairbanks et al.
The study also reported that fractals that approached the natural range found in coastlines and vegetation tended to be more aesthetically pleasing, as was the case for both Pollock’s paintings and the children’s patterns measured in the experiment.
Some researchers have suggested that Pollock’s unusually fine-scale fractals may have been influenced by his impaired balance, which resulted from an incident at birth when he nearly strangled himself on his umbilical cord. However, studies have shown that Pollock’s artistic control, whether conscious or not, extended far beyond fractal structure.
Ultimately, however, this does not mean that children can “do a Pollock.” The experiment involved simple splashing on paper, rather than the controlled physical movement that Pollock used when working on a large canvas. While some of the children’s patterns may resemble Pollock’s at first glance, none of them reproduced his smooth, stable lines. The physics behind his technique remains extremely difficult to replicate.
The study also raises several questions, and some scientists have pointed out that the journal in which it appears, Frontiers, has a mixed reputation for rigorous peer review.
Nevertheless, the research shows that mastering the lines, whether they look simple or not, was anything but child’s play.
