Sea Change

Acquisition

Peggy Guggenheim in her palace on the Grand Canal. Venice, Italy. 1950. © David Seymour/Magnum Photos

Art collector Peggy Guggenheim gave this painting to SAM curator Edward Thomas over dinner at her Venetian palace. After charming conversation over the meal, Ms. Guggenheim offered Mr. Thomas any Jackson Pollock painting of his choosing in her basement level. Though Sea Change was his second choice, it is a classic example of his drip painting technique using aluminum paint and gravel. The painting was mid-sail on a ship to Seattle when Pollock died in a single-car crash on August 11, 1956.