'It was the most hated art movement of the 20th century,' said a director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York to one of the group of painters whose story is the subject of tonight's film: The New York Masters
The story, begins in the depression years of the 1930s, when Roosevelt's New Deal gave government-sponsored employment to millions and the status of artist to a handful. It ends with the death of its hero, Jackson Pollock, in 1956 - the year of international success.
Jim Douglas Henry talks to the painters, critics and early collectors of this movement. They tell of the hard and gruelling struggle of a group of fierce individuals whose success made New York the art capital of the world. They include: Lee Krasner Pollock, Clement Greenberg, Robert Motherwell, Harold Rosenberg, Ben Heller.

(Colour)