Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)

1950 · Painting

May one see it?

Not receiving at present

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 10 days ago
In this state since: Aug 19, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the painting

Lavender Mist is a painting by Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock. It is a classic example of his poured (or “drip”) style of painting. Painted in the summer of 1950, it was first exhibited later that year at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York City. As art historian Gail Levin writes, “Running from 28 November through 16 December 1950, the exhibition included thirty-two works, several of them now considered Pollock's best: Autumn Rhythm, Lavender Mist, and One.” Lavender Mist has been in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., since 1976.

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Particulars

Accession number: 1976.37.1

What it shows

Non-representational

In the catalog

Paintings Oil American painting Post-war art 20th century American Abstract Expressionist Action painting

Sources

National Gallery of Art
Image: National Gallery of Art — © the artist or rights holder

Meanwhile, in the life of Jackson Pollock

The whole life

1948
A sensational show at Betty Parsons
Pollock's 1948 exhibition at the Betty Parsons Gallery was a sensation and a financial success. He was then able to get a larger studio.
8 August 1949
Life asks if he is the greatest living US painter
On 8 August 1949 Life published an article on Pollock under a headline asking whether he was the greatest living painter in the United States.
1950
Hans Namuth photographs and films Pollock at work
In 1950 the young photographer Hans Namuth photographed and filmed Pollock at work. Pollock had promised to start a new painting for the session but said it was already finished — then, as if realising it was not, he flung paint onto the canvas for about half an hour in an almost dancelike movement.
1950
“No. 12, 1949” at the Venice Biennale
Pollock's “No. 12, 1949”, a medium-sized drip painting, was shown in the United States Pavilion at the 1950 Venice Biennale.
from 7 March 1952
First Paris exhibition at Paul Facchetti's
From 7 March 1952 the first exhibition of Pollock's works of 1948–1951 in Paris and in Europe was held at Paul Facchetti's studio, arranged through the mediation of Pollock's close friend Alfonso Ossorio and the art historian Michel Tapié.
9 April 1952 – 27 July 1952
Exhibition: 15 Americans