The Legend of Jackson Pollock’s Peggy Guggenheim ‘All-Nighter’

Mural (1943), Jackson Pollock‘s first commission from Peggy Guggenheim, has long been rumored to have been painted in one night. After 18 months of studying and restoring the work, a team of conservators at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, have concluded that the artist completed much, if not all, of the initial under-painting and composition in a single session. However, additional layers of paint were added over a longer period of several days or even weeks. Their findings also indicate that Mural does not feature Pollock’s signature technique of dripping paint on a piece as it lay on the floor.

The newly-conserved painting and details from the Getty Conservation Institute’s research on the seminal piece will be on view at the museum March 11–June 1.