This was an interesting story about Jackson Pollack and his encounter with the CIA. I thought the artwork was excellent and I loved the way it looked. I had a little trouble understanding how true it was, since the agent was fictional. The end result was confusing, but it was an enjoyable read.

I did really enjoy this graphic bio of Jackson Pollock and his connection to the C.I.A. How did these two entities mesh? Well, the C.I.A. came into being after WWII, and almost immediately began the Long Leash program, instituted as a way to fight the Cold Way using the arts as a weapon. It spent 20 years pitting Abstract Expressionism against Socialist Realism, to show America as the land of freedom to express oneself, to think freely, to create the art one wanted to create rather than the art one was told to create. This program secretly funded artists for years, all to promote American arts around the world, and Pollock, who was becoming a major player in the movement, made a great poster boy- a rebel cowboy, independent and unafraid.
This bio is brief, a bio-lite if you will, but the major details are covered. There is some fiction to this, but most is fact, including the characters- just one character is fictional, but it does make the story flow, and doesn't change the story. The writing is a bit dry, to be honest, but is still interesting. The artwork is the star here- Catacchio's illustrations are striking, with color palettes that echo Pollock's work.

#PollockConfidential #NetGalley

This was such an informative and riveting read. This graphic novel divulges the short yet turbulent life of renowned artist, Jackson Pollock. It was amazing to see how politics and culture shaped his art and when viewed from the CIA spy aka the narrator, it has become more compelling to read.

The art is impeccably good and the instrumental characters were interspersed in monotones of some of Pollock's works. This was a seamless and great read!

An interesting graphic novel about the life of the conflicted artist Jackson Pollock told through the eyes of a CIA agent. While this agent is fictional, the historical CIA program 'Long Leash is not. This project to fund American abstract artists in order to battle communism was something I never knew about, despite having learnt about Pollock in school.

In a blend of fact and fiction, this story gave me a bigger insight into Pollock, his life, and his art. It's an enjoyable, fast read. I liked the illustrations, although I personally didn't love the colour palette.

I'd like to thank Laurence Kind Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is, as the author notes at the end, a blend of fact and fiction. Catacchio paints the picture of Pollock's life told through a cast of mostly real (no spoilers!) characters.
Personally I loved the initial setting and recognised it immediately as the GNAM or National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, as I live in the city and often take children to the museum, as part of my work as an arts and English teacher.
I am also happy to say that the museum now hosts more than one Pollock!
I loved the inclusion of different art styles in the graphic novel, it feels like a real fusion of action, art history, biography all blended into one.
A great read for modern art fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The life of Jackson Pollack told through the eyes of a CIA agent assigned to monitor Pollack. The CIA agent is fictional but the program is not. <i>Long Leash</i> was the program started by the CIA after World War II to promote American art as the Soviets were seen as having much more cultural influence at the time. The spy angle gave the book an interesting tilt into the life of a man who was notoriously guarded. It's a quick read for a public figure I always wondered about.

*Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC for reading and reviews*

I am a huge fan of graphic novel memoirs and biographies; however, I was not expecting this. As an Art Historian I am a bit ashamed I didn't know anything about the CIA tailing Pollock, so that was something fun to discover. I was expecting more of an overview of Pollock's work and a deeper dive of his life. It is a well known fact that Pollock was a very private person, so I was looking forward to learning more of the man. The CIA story, while crazy interesting, doesn't mesh well with the rest of the graphic novel. For someone like myself with some knowledge of the artist, this was a great novel. For readers who may not know much about Jackson Pollock, they should get this as a companion novel to a mid-century art book.

Following the historical CIA project Long Leash, this graphic novel chronicles the life and times of Jackson Pollock. His art changed the world’s view on painting, and this comic puts that into perspective. Long Leash was a project to fund American artists in order to keep Americans buying their art locally instead of buying communist.

So, let me level with you. This is not a page-turner. The writing is as dry as the CIA dossier it is meant to mimic. The art, while full of vivid color, looks like someone crudely recreated photographs with tracing paper. That being said, in the context of a textbook or scholastic setting, this comic is an excellent tool to teach about Pollock. It gives you an idea about his processes and the inspirations behind his pieces. As a textbook, it’s perfect. Outside of that, however, I don’t see many people buying it.

'Pollock Confidential: A Graphic Novel' with story and art by Onofrio Catacchio is an unbalanced look at the life of the famous painter.

'Operation Long Leash' was dreamed up by the CIA as a method to battle communism by promoting American abstract art. This graphic novel starts with an agent, who is fictional, working with a museum to borrow one of Pollock's works for a state-sponsored exhibit. Along the way, some biographical info is given about the painter, including his death.

I liked the framing story, but at some point that device ends, and then the book becomes more straight up bio. I wish the author had structured the story a bit better. There is an interesting afterword about the artist and notes about the writing of the story. The art is pretty good, and I like some of the interesting angles of Pollock at work.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Laurence King Publishing Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I think I've had the reaction that 99.9% of the people who've written a review to this book had. "How the hell did I not know about 'Long Leash'?!"

This graphic novel is historical fiction based on real life. There's a bit of Pollock's biography, but more his invlolvement with the CIA in regards to codename "Long Leash", and way more about the overall project that the CIA created to promote American art because too many Americans, they felt, were becoming much more interested in Russian art. I liked it.

Pollock Confidential is a graphic novel biography of a period of Jackson Pollock's life. Originally published in 2018, this English translation released 7th April 2020 by Laurence King is 112 pages and available in hardcover format.

This biography takes a look via flashbacks and interludes at Pollock's influence and interactions with the CIA during operation "long leash" as part of the American cultural cold war with the Soviet Union. It was a relationship of which I was previously unaware although the broad strokes of his life, battles with substance abuse, and insecurities I had already known about. A fair bit of the biography narrative is fictionalised, but the framework is there.

The art is quite good, the recognizable major players are displayed against monotone backgrounds of some of Pollock's work as well as having some of the story panels inset into color versions of his work. The art is quite good and the text translation is seamless.

Four stars. A quick, interesting, and worthwhile read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

While I liked this look at Jackson Pollock's life and work, I was mixed on the government surveillance/secret manipulation aspect (which really happened) and the created CIA agent character.

This was not a bad graphic novel. It was certainly shorter than I expected it to be. You learn a bit about some of his more famous paintings, and how he came to create them. Yet you don’t learn too much about his earlier days. This story also came to a close rather quickly. In some ways, I wish it was longer so we could have learned more about them. Some people might enjoy this graphic novel, but it won’t be for everyone.

My thanks to Laurence King Publishing for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Pollock Confidential’ by Onofrio Catacchio in exchange for an honest review.

“He danced around the canvas, rocking back and forth like a drunk or a shaman in a trance. He stopped only when he ‘felt’ he was done-and for him, in that moment, the piece was complete.” - Onofrio Catacchio.

Catacchio has framed this graphic novel about the life, work, and tragically early death of Jackson Pollock through the reminiscences of Dan Adkins, a retired C.I.A. agent, who in 1948 had been assigned to surveil Jackson Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner while they were living on Long Island.

Agent Dan Adkins poses as a history student there to work on his thesis and he positions himself to be befriended by the couple. He is able to observe Pollock at work and listen to his stories of his upbringing and early career.

I am a huge fan of Jackson Pollock’s work and like Adkins could spend hours gazing at his paintings when I have encountered them in art museums. This was an amazing graphic novel that was informative and captured a strong sense of Pollock’s dynamic approach to his art.

Onofrio Catacchio illustrations are excellent along with his depiction of Pollock’s restless energy that was the hallmark of his splatter painting style. He uses many of Pollock’s own words throughout the work.

Although Agent Adkins is fictional, the covert operation detailed was real. I was marginally aware of the C.I.A.’s covert activities in secretly promoting Abstract Expressionism during the Cold War from my own studies of art history.

Following the text, Onofrio Catacchio provides a short list of sources and resources for Pollock’s life and details of the book that documented the C.I.A.’s weaponising of modern art during the Cold War. It’s a fascinating subject.

I would love to own the hardback edition of this graphic novel and may pick up a copy in due course.

I majored in Art History in college (and Journalism and Women's Studies), and I have a particular fondness for Abstract Expressionism and Jackson Pollock. I will never forget the feeling of seeing my first Pollock in person. The scope and scale and texture took my breath away and made me understand art in new ways. I was curious to see how this graphic novel (it is fiction, albeit very closely tied--for the most part--to history) told his story. I read this fascinating graphic novel in a single sitting. It has it all: history, art, drama, romance, politics, spies, and death. The visuals are stunning and capture the scale of Abstract Expressionism well. It's accessible enough to those who aren't familiar with Abstract Expressionism while also being entertaining to those who are. The art, appropriately, is the real star here, but the story is a good one, too. I only wish it were longer.

I was really delighted to the perspective of learning more about the artist, but found that the CIA backstory didn't fit that much with the subject, even if it was an historical fact... I didn't like that approach. I would have preferred to get much more insights about his personal and professional lives, as I felt that book was just an overview of it all. A linear chronology would have been great too. I wasn't fond of the art either. The positive thing is that I realized i wanna know much more about this artist!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Laurence King Publishing for this advance copy <3

This is a graphic novel about a Jackson Polluck painting. This was not very interesting. Art work was very basic.

Who knew that Jackson Pollock and Abstract Expressionist was financially supported by the CIA to beat Russian Communism. Mind blown! This and more secrets are in the accurately named Pollock Confidential.

The artwork is very golden-age superhero. I expected to see color pixels if I looked really close. It fits the time period of the book—1930s-1950s.

Overall, Pollock Confidential is an unique well-researched look into a troubled man’s life—with some surprises along the way. 4 stars!

Thanks to Laurence King Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advanced copy of Pollock Confidential from Netgalley so I could share my review with you!

Jackson Pollock was an artist known by many, but few know of the US government’s interest in him during the Cold War. His classification as a great American artist is not a work of accident, and had everything to do with the United States government’s desire to encourage a uniquely American style of art. Though Pollock’s life was short, it was full of color and experience, as shown in the Pollock Confidential. Told through the perspective of the man tasked with following Jackson Pollock, this graphic novel is a delightful glimpse into the past!

You can get your copy of Pollock Confidential on May 5th from Laurence King Publishing!

Onofrio Catacchio is the author of many graphic novels, in both English and Italian. I quite enjoyed reading this book, and was especially fond of his incorporation of Pollock’s actual paintings into the illustrations of the book! Graphic biographies can be extremely fun, especially when written by someone who cares about the story they are telling, which was clearly the case with the Pollock Confidential! The story was engaging and truthful, paired with fantastic artwork!

My Recommendation-
If you want to know more about art history, but would like your information presented in a more artistic medium, Pollock Confidential would be a great place to start! I didn’t know anything about Jackson Pollock before reading this book, and I still really enjoyed it! It has actually inspired me to try my hand at some abstract art myself!

Artist bio graphic novels seem to be all the rage at the moment, and Pollock Confidential is among the best I’ve read in the genre.

It’s also more than a mere artist bio, heavily focusing on the strange relationship between CIA activity and American art during Pollock’s time.

That the graphic novel is presented from the perspective of the CIA officer charged with monitoring Pollock rather than an omniscient narrator or the artist himself gives the story a unique voice.

The art (both the interpretations of Pollock’s work) and the original illustrations are outstandjng and evocative of Pollock’s style and palette without merely just copying it.