The She-Wolf

This wild and energetic painting from 1943 shows Jackson Pollock before he became famous for his drip paintings. At the center, you can make out a wolf-like creature outlined in thick white and black paint, surrounded by a chaotic tangle of colors and shapes. The animal appears both powerful and mysterious, emerging from layers of yellows, reds, and blues that Pollock applied with aggressive, almost violent brushstrokes.

Pollock created this during World War II, when many artists were drawn to ancient myths and primal symbols as a way to express the darker forces they saw in human nature. The she-wolf might reference the legendary animal that nursed Romulus and Remus in Roman mythology, but Pollock wasn't trying to paint a clear story. He was more interested in tapping into raw, instinctive feelings. You can see him working out ideas here that would eventually lead to his groundbreaking abstract style, though this painting still holds onto a recognizable subject, even if it's half-buried in all that energetic paint.