BOSTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- An exhibit on the Boston College campus next month may leave patrons wondering whether they've seen a display of actual Jackson Pollocks or something else.
The paintings, found in 2002 wrapped in paper and labeled "Pollock Experiments," will be displayed for the first time at the McMullen Museum, re-igniting debate over their authenticity, Newsweek magazine reported in its Aug. 20 issue.
The artwork was found in a storage locker belonging to photographer and graphic artist Herbert Matter, a friend of Pollock, who died 51 years ago when he smashed his car into a tree.
The official catalog of Pollock's art was controlled by two experts and his widow, painter Lee Krasner, who died in 1984. An authentication board later considered hundreds of previously unknown works, admitting a handful.
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation stopped authenticating in 1995, and its two main experts expressed skepticism about the Matter pictures.
Another scholar on the authentication board, Ellen Landau, disagreed. While some of the analysis casting doubt on the paintings' authenticity dampened her enthusiasm, Landau said: "I believe there are a lot of things that point to Pollock. But there's a mystery here that requires more research."
