Viewing Pollock

This is a photograph of two women viewing Jackson Pollock's painting "Autumn Rhythm" (Number 30) while in the background is another Pollock - "Number 28, 1950"  I kind of knew of the work of Pollock, but didn't think I would really like it much.  But when there was a large retrospective exhibition of his paintings at the Museum of Modern Art in the Fall of 1998 I went to see it.  I was stunned!  Somehow those drip paintings just took me in!  I guess I read some comments about "Oh, it's just dripped paint."  Well, that may be, but his paintings are SO much more than that!  I couldn't believe how much they affected me, and moved me!  And I had no idea why, except that the paintings are incredibly detailed and so complex in their design.  I was completely stunned!

Here is a detail of the "Autumn Rhythm" painting and you can see how rich and detailed it is.  Why does this dripped paint speak to me, and hold me in its grasp?  I have no idea, but I keep coming back to them every time I am in the museum.