A masterpiece by “Jack the Dripper”

Many people, when confronted with paintings by Pollock and the New York School, can’t understand what the artist was doing or why.

The best way I can explain early modern art is to paraphrase one of the artists working in the style: Traditional painting techniques just didn’t jive with contemporary life.  Realism, perspective, and all of the aims of the western painting tradition from the Renaissance through the mid-19th century, just could not be used any longer to express the developments and atrocities witnessed in the 20th century.  Who wants to look at a perfectly captured painting of an atomic bomb blowing up?  A photograph can capture it.  Leave those subjects for photography and begin to explore other ideas.  Dive into the deep end of your subconscious.