Jackson Pollock's 'drip technique' paintings are among the most readily recognisable works of modern art, and they launched his career in 1947. Yet less is known of his earlier works, which are seldom presented together as a focus of study in their own right. Pollock's body of work produced during these pivotal years vacillates between figurative references and abstract formal experimentation, and bears witness to a diverse range of sources that nourished the young artist's experimentation, from Native American influences stemming from his upbringing in Arizona and California, to Mexican muralists he encountered in 1938, and from European avant-garde artists - among whom Pablo Picasso figures prominently - to the Surrealists. His experiences under Jungian psychoanalysis also left a mark on his art, and this book offers intimate insight into the artist's psyche.