Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. He was the first of his colleagues to earn respect from the European art world by developing a technique that he called "pour painting," which is also known as drip painting.
His life first began in Wyoming, but soon was relocated West where they moved between California and Arizona for the next 16 years. Soon after his family moved once again, to Los Angeles where they finally set roots. Pollock soon joined the Manual Arts High School where he first pursued his passion of art. While there he was introduced to metaphysical and occult spirituality which would later come into play in his paintings.
However, In 1930 Pollock decided to move to New York to join his brother who studied under Thomas Hart Benton. For the next 8 years Pollock analyzed the work of Benton who revealed techniques as well as artists such as Albert Pinkham Ryder who strongly influenced him. Others influences include that of, Jose' Clemente Orozco, Joan Miro, and Pablo Picasso.
In 1937' Jackson was going trough treatment for alcoholism, and in 1938 was institutionalized for a nervous breakdown. Soon after his release his painting style became more abstract departing from his landscape style into his drip style. A few more years down the road he landed a job with the heris of the Guggenheim Museum, Peggy Guggenheim. He worked producing art for her gallery while getting paid 150$ a month.
In 45' Pollock married his wife Lee Krasner, who was also a painter. They moved to East Hampton where they lived on a farm with a garage that Jackson renovated into a studio. He would work outside with his canvas on the ground to be able to move around the painting to create a much more interactive approach. His studio allowed him to work in a more comfortable environment, allowing him to produce the vast amount of paintings that were show at different galleries between 1940 - 47'.
Pollock soon after began to spiral out of control. He became infamous mostly due to his dependency on alcohol. He also began an affair with a mistress who he would be with at the time of his death.
Although he died at an unstable part in his life, Pollock will always be remember by the foundation of art work he produced that led the way to such an influential movement in art. He laid the ground work for many artist to follow while gaining recognition as one of the first American artists to be famous in his time.

http://www.biography.com/articles/Jackson-Pollock-9443818