In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that flew the question:"Jackson Pollock: Is he the best living painter in the USA?" The film is a look back into the life span of an extraordinary man, a man who has been called"an artist dedicated to concealment, a performer who nobody ever knew." Since he struggled with self-doubt, participating at a between needing to express himself and wanting to shut out the world, Pollock began a downhill spiral.