AFTER A NEAR-DECADE LONG WORLD TOUR INCLUDING A STOP IN SIOUX CITY, THE JACKSON POLLOCK OIL PAINTING SIMPLY KNOWN AS “MURAL” IS BACK HOME IN IOWA CITY.
THE OIL PAINTING WAS CREATED IN 1943 AND MEASURES EIGHT FEET HIGH BY 20 FEET LONG.
LAUREN LESSING, DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA’S STANLEY MUSEUM OF ART, SAYS IF MURAL WERE A PERSON, ITS PASSPORT WOULD SHOW AT LEAST 14 NEW VENUES AND IT WOULD HAVE EARNED MORE THAN 20-THOUSAND FREQUENT FLIER MILES:
MURAL3 OC………IN BETWEEN. :12
THAT INCLUDES THE SIOUX CITY ART CENTER, WHERE OVER 25,000 PEOPLE SAW THE PAINTING BETWEEN JULY OF 2014 AND APRIL 1ST OF 2015.
THE PAINTING WAS VIEWED BY MORE THAN TWO-POINT-SEVEN-MILLION PEOPLE ON ITS WORLD TOUR WHICH STARTED IN 2008.
DURING ITS TOUR, MURAL WAS INSURED FOR 144-MILLION DOLLARS, ALTHOUGH LESSING SAYS THAT FIGURE IS ABSTRACT BECAUSE THE PAINTING IS IRREPLACEABLE.
SHE CALLS MURAL A BEACON FOR ART LOVERS EVERYWHERE AS IT MARKS A PIVOTAL MOMENT IN POLLOCK’S CAREER:
MURAL4 OC………”EXPRESSIONIST MOVEMENT”. :21
POLLOCK WAS COMMISSIONED TO CREATE MURAL BY LEGENDARY ART COLLECTOR PEGGY GUGGENHEIM, WHO DONATED THE PIECE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IN 1951.
IT WILL RETURN TO PUBLIC DISPLAY IN IOWA CITY AT THE STANLEY MUSEUM OF ART WHEN IT REOPENS AUGUST 26TH.
