Who the $#%@ Is Jackson Pollock poster & wallpaper
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Teri Horton, Peter Paul Biro, Thomas Hoving, Bill Page, Tod Michael Volpe ... see more see more... , Jeffrey Bergen , Ben Heller

Filmmaker Harry Moses offers humorous and revealing insight into the art authentication process in America by documenting the remarkable tale of a seventy-three-year old former long haul trucker who w... read more read more...as snubbed by the art establishment after purchasing a Jackson Pollock painting for five dollars at a local thrift shop. When Teri Horton purchased a painting by one of the Twentieth Century's most respected abstract expressionist artists, she never suspected that she would find herself struggling against some of the most powerful figures in the world of art. Despite hiring a forensic scientist who discovered that a fingerprint on the back of the painting's canvas proved a positive match with a fingerprint discovered on a can of paint in Pollock's studio, and that the paint itself matched a can of pain found on Pollock's studio floor, Horton was inexplicably snubbed when the art establishment proclaimed that the painting which should have fetched upwards of $50 million was completely worthless. In the fifteen years that followed, the ageing woman with only an eighth grade education would embark on an arduous uphill battle against the elitists of the art world that would forever reveals the secrets of just how art is purchased and sold in modern day America. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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PG-13, 1 hr. 14 min.

Directed by: Harry Moses

Release Date: November 15, 2006

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DVD Release Date: May 1, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (328)

  • Stinger839
    November 22, 2008
    Stinger839
    A transparent look at the art world. Fascinating trucker and treasure hunter Teri Horton stumbles across what she thinks may be a Jackson Pollock, and she has to battle the tastes of art collectors and agents to prove its authenticity. After a long battle with the reigning gods, ... read moreshe enlists the help of an outcast looking to get back in the game and an art authenticator who uses science instead of gut feeling to determine authenticity.

    Various art world figures are asked about the painting by the filmmakers, including an expert imitator or forger, several art brokers, a painter of Pollock's generation, art investors, and gallery owners.

    Besides the evidence which links a fingerprint on Teri's painting to four authentic Pollock's and matches paint samples to Pollock's workshop, I instinctively feel that this IS a Pollock. For the art connoisseurs who look at it and appraise that it hasn't got the energy and feel of "a Pollock" without doing detailed analysis of paint patterns, I wonder if they have ever seen "an authentic Pollock" that they felt "didn't have the energy of a Pollock". Too much of their appraisal is subjective and in a vacuum of their own aesthetic sensibilities. These people are particularly stunned when the forensic investigator discovers that Pollock used acrylic, a paint which was believed by art historians to not be available at that time to Pollock's workshop.

    This is a great film demonstrating the modern evolution of the herd mentality and subsequent clash of different cultures to determine "what is art?".
  • streamofconsciousness
    April 29, 2010
    streamofconsciousness
    Teri Horton is a mother, grandmother and retired truck driver who becomes the center of a heated debate after she buys what a local art teacher suggests may be a genuine Pollock.

    She buys the painting for five dollars (a price she haggled down from eight dollars,)at a local th... read morerift store. The painting is for a friend that has been feeling down. If you were to only know this about Teri then you'd know enough. She is strong, blunt and kind-hearted.

    That is exactly what director Harry Moses does, he captures her spirit as she becomes the center of a film about the art world. Teri is painted as a heroine, albeit a foul-mouthed, dumpster diving heroine. The art world (museum directors, art gallery owners, art lawyers,) become the shadow that looms, eager to crush those who would dare enter their realm.

    Is Teri up to the challenge of facing off against such well-funded viciousness? Her journey, which unravels over a decade, is a fascinating one.
    Will the painting be proven to be an original Jackson Pollack? Teri's quest to determine this reveals much about the art world and much more about the strength of a woman. A woman who refuses to be brushed aside, a woman who has worked hard for everything has with great pride.

    What is art? Who is it for? Who determines its worth? These and many other questions are asked of us as we watch this quirky, intelligent, affectionate film.
  • wbgoose13
    October 14, 2007
    wbgoose13
    Investigative details dry compared to Horton's forward personality.
  • Lemure
    April 10, 2011
    Lemure
    Liked this. It's a decent little documentary about the American art world and Jackson Pollock - not to mention a woman who is too stupid to accept 9 million for a painting she's told is a fake by experts. No sympathy.
  • KLFilmmaker
    December 12, 2010
    KLFilmmaker
    Intriguing doc on hidden treasures.
  • trisarahtops22
    July 25, 2007
    trisarahtops22
    A hilarious "trailer trash" lady takes on the uptight and exclusive art world...you learn some things and laugh at the extreme culture clash along the way
  • juliantoepfer
    December 31, 2011
    juliantoepfer
    Another film which I am torn about. It is extremely interesting to have a first hand look at how art is authenticated, squabbled over and analyzed.

    However, the interesting aspects of this movie are completely overpowered and overshadowed by the ignorance, bullheadedness, gree... read mored, and generally mean-spiritedness of the paintings owner, Teri Horton. She is uneducated (particularly regarding art), unappreciative of true artistic vision (she calls the painting 'ugly as sin' and says 'we were going to throw darts at it') and unrelenting in her greed and misguided self righteousness.

    While I would love this painting to be real, I almost hope it isn't so this self inflated piece of trailer-park white trash doesn't get a penny out of it. The final 4 minutes of the film are my own personal Hell.
  • jazzmonk
    May 17, 2011
    jazzmonk
    I like visual art and documentaries, so I loved it.
    I don't think you have to like either to like this film though. The main character is an interesting woman, and the attitudes of some of the naysayers are hard to believe.
  • muesli2005
    August 9, 2010
    muesli2005
    A stubborn woman refuses to make an 180,000,000% profit based on her need to feel validated by the art world. She likes all this attention doesn't she? Ultimately, if she had allowed an independent analysis, she might have had her answer, but at this point, I don't think she co... read moreuld handle the possibility that's she's been suckered by a pair of unscrupulous con men who share a stake in the painting's value. If she enlisted the aid of someone other than these two ex-con's as her experts, then I would have more sympathy for her.

    Oh well, at least the local country singer wrote a song about her and she drank some beer with her friends at the bar. It doesn't get any better than that, does it?
  • HeroPK
    June 8, 2010
    HeroPK
    A dumpster diving granny finds a painting that might be a Jackson Pollock. It is similar to a documentary "My kind Could Paint That". They are both interesting but have unsatisfing endings.

View All Who the $#%@ Is Jackson Pollock Reviews

Critic Reviews

Frank Scheck
November 27, 2006
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Fascinatingly ambiguous tale and bizarre cast of characters make it one of the more entertaining documentaries in recent memory.

Kyle Smith
November 17, 2006
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The movie is an entertaining stroll through a colorful gallery of characters including, in villain mode, former Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas Hoving.

Elizabeth Weitzman
November 17, 2006
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

By the time it's over, you'll be inspired to scour your own attic for undiscovered treasures. Full Review

Ariella Budick
November 16, 2006
Ariella Budick, Newsday

For the film, the verdict is beside the point. Moses uses the plucky Horton's battle to make an oblique argument about class, and his target is the art-world Goliath. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
November 15, 2006
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

[A] beguiling documentary detective story. Full Review

Stephen Holden
November 15, 2006
Stephen Holden, New York Times

Harry Moses' entertaining documentary portrays the debate between connoisseurship and science as a culture war. Full Review

Jessica Grose
November 14, 2006
Jessica Grose, Village Voice

While the forensics is marginally interesting, the most arresting piece of the film is Horton herself, as she asks of the art world, 'Who the hell do they think they are?' Full Review

Louis Proyect
July 28, 2009
Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews

A highly revealing look at class differences stemming from a dispute between a crude 73 year old woman who bought what might be a Pollock painting and her detractors in the upper echelons of the art w... Full Review

Cole Smithey
April 24, 2009
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

The movie is an enjoyable look into the hypocrisy and prejudices of the art world as experienced by a down-to-earth woman with a heart of gold and a sense of principle to match. Full Review

Christopher Null
May 21, 2007
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

a fun movie that any art enthusiast ought to see Full Review

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