Jackson Pollock and Piero della Francesca Ride Lonesome

The article discusses the relationship between cinematic practice, space and painting and in particular Budd Boetticher’s film Ride Lonesome from 1959, Jackson Pollock’s paintings and Piero della Francesca’s The Story of the True Cross that was painted between 1447 and 1466. The CinemaScopic landscapes of Ride Lonesome are discussed as a touchstone to explore the western genre’s relationship to Pollock’s painterly spaces as well as the psychological integration of the characters into the film’s locations. The Story of the True Cross, like Ride Lonesome, uses objects to represent the hidden powers at work in the landscape.