James Pollock (artist)

James Pollock
Artist James Pollock watercolor painting on location along the breaks of Lake Oahe in South Dakota.
Born	James Pollock 1943 (age 73–74) Pollock, South Dakota
Nationality	American
Known for	Painter
Notable work	Looking Down the Trail, 1967, National Museum of the U.S. Army, Set of 5 Centennial Posters, 1983, South Dakota State Historical Society Dakota Survival, 1979, pen and ink drawing of three bison in a snowstorm
Movement	Plein air
Awards	Artist of the Year, South Dakota Hall of Fame, 1980

Looking Down the Trail, 1967, National Museum of the U.S. Army, Set of 5 Centennial Posters, 1983, South Dakota State Historical Society

James Pollock (born 1943, South Dakota) is an American artist currently living in Pierre, South Dakota. Pollock has been characterized as a "South Dakota painter whose work is a bridge between the abstract and the concrete. His style varies widely, sometimes drawing on the abstract styles reminiscent of artists of the early 20th-century Bauhaus school, characterized by strong lines and bold colors, sometimes resembling ancient cave paintings, and sometimes straightforward renderings of landscapes and objects." Pollock is an active plein air painter and member of the South Dakota Plein Air Artists movement.

Pollock grew up in Pollock, a small town in north-central South Dakota, and was named after his great-grandfather Robert Y. Pollock. Pollock had an early interest in art which was encouraged by an aunt. In 1965 He graduated with a major in art from South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota.

In 1966 James Pollock was drafted into the U. S. Army. In 1967 while working as a postal clerk at Camp Ames army base in South Korea Pollock applied for assignment to the U. S. Army Vietnam Combat Artists Program. He was accepted into the program and from 15, August 1967 through 31 December 1967 he served on U. S Army Vietnam Combat Artist Team IV (CAT IV). Art completed by Pollock during his assignment as a Vietnam soldier-artist is in the permanent U.S. Army Art Collection, maintained by the U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH), Washington, D.C. Pollock's art has been included in traveling exhibits organized by the U.S Army Center of Military History. The collection of the Emil A. Blackmore Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana also includes a piece of Pollock's art from the Vietnam era.