Monday, February 27, 2012

Who the $#%& Is Jackson Pollock? (2006) PG13 - 3 Stars

If you don't know who the $#%&# Jackson Pollock is, you might want to watch this documentary. Maybe you too have an original artwork from the great artist& and you don't even know it. Good luck proving it and that's the premise for this film about the plight of a woman's struggle to prove she's holding a gold mine. Teri Horton bought the large painting at a thrift store because she thought it was an interesting large piece. Actually, she and her friend made fun of the painting until someone told Teri it might be an extremely valuable Jackson Pollock original, worth thousands to millions of dollars.

73 year old Teri Horton, a former long haul truck driver with an eighth grade education, bought the painting for $5.00 at a local thrift shop. When someone tells Teri it looks like the work of a famous artist, Teri decides to investigate further. Forensic scientific experts are able to confirm the painting came from Pollocks studio, making it that much clearer to Horton she is holding an extremely high priced original. However, she learns quickly the hard way that in today's modern art world, there are no easy answers to confirm the painting's authenticity.

This is her story as she takes on the modern day art world that snobbishly tries to tell her she is holding nothing more than a simple knock off worth nothing. She hires a forensic scientist who discovers a fingerprint on the back of the painting's canvas and he traces that same fingerprint to prove a positive match with a fingerprint discovered on a can of paint in Pollock's studio. The paint matches a can of paint in that same studio plus also matches markings on the floor, proving the painting was done at this location. However, no matter what she can prove, she is unable to convince the modern art establishments who proclaim the painting is fake and completely worthless. Horton spends over 15 years enlisting the services of many professionals who refuse to authenticate the painting which would bring Horton approximately $50 million dollars. The documentary gives an insight into the eccentric world of buying and selling art in today's modern world.



Director: Harry Moses
Writer: Harry Moses
Producers: Harry Moses, Steven Hewitt
I viewed 1/12

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