The drip paintings of the Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock are among the best-known paintings of the 20th century. When Pollock moved from easel painting to dripping or pouring paint onto a piece of canvas spread on the floor, he was able to get long, continuous lines impossible to get by applying paint to a canvas with a brush.
For this technique he needed a paint with a fluid viscosity (one that would pour smoothly). For this he turned to the new synthetic resin-based paints on the market (generally called ‘gloss enamel’), made for industrial purposes such as spray-painting cars or household interior decorating. He would continue using gloss enamel paint until his death.
