The secret origins of the drip
Chapter 1

The secret origins of the drip

Chapter 2

Step out of the shadow

Chapter 3

Staining and soaking the canvas

Chapter 4

The historic Ninth Street show

YOUR GOAL

Master of Abstract expressionism's forgotten women

Ch 1 · The secret origins of the drip
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The secret origins of the drip
BETA

andy Sort each painting to uncover the women who pioneered the drip technique.

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andy Origins of drip painting

Paint on the floor, a spontaneous flow, Janet Sobel's drip showed the way to go.

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andy The myth of the macho artist

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Sidelined as a primitive housewife

andy Despite her revolutionary technique, art critics dismissed Janet Sobel as a mere "housewife" and "primitive" painter, halting her career.

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When Pollock saw Sobel's work

andy Renowned critic Clement Greenberg admitted that Jackson Pollock saw Janet Sobel's drip paintings in 1944 and was deeply influenced by them.

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Fun Fact

Janet Sobel's tools: Janet Sobel often used a vacuum cleaner's exhaust blow-pipe to scatter wet enamel paint across her canvases.

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Glossary
drip painting (noun)
A style of abstract painting in which paint is dripped or poured onto the canvas. Ukrainian-born artist Janet Sobel pioneered this technique in her Brooklyn apartment during the early 1940s.

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Gossip

If you invented a revolutionary technique, would you let a famous friend take credit?

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Quiz

Why did Janet Sobel's art career abruptly stall in 1946?

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andy When Pollock saw Sobel's work

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Quiz

How did male art critics patronizingly describe Janet Sobel in the 1940s?

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andy The Ukrainian grandmother's radical invention

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Quiz

Where did Jackson Pollock first see Janet Sobel's drip paintings in 1944?

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andy Sidelined as a primitive housewife

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Quiz

Which influential art critic admitted that Jackson Pollock was influenced by Janet Sobel?

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Quiz

Which self-taught artist pioneered the "drip painting" technique before Jackson Pollock?

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Quiz

What medium did Janet Sobel use to create her swirling, blown-paint patterns?

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Quiz

What country was drip-painting pioneer Janet Sobel born in before immigrating to the US?

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Quiz

What cultural ideal in post-WWII America helped overshadow female artists in Abstract Expressionism?

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