Jackson Pollock (1950). Autumn Rhythm (#30) [oil on canvas]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. George A. Hearn Fund, 1957.

Clearly the concept of “autumn” is the subject. There is nothing objective here, only a haphazard yet homogeneous distribution of fundamental artistic elements: Line, value, purity, pattern, texture and negative space. What remains is the impression of decay characteristic of the waning of the yearly cycle of seasons. Using this small collection of constituents, Pollock has created a masterpiece of Abstract Expressionism charged with movement. While the application of energy is instinctual and organic in its effortlessness, compositionally it is reasonably stable. Nearly symmetrical balance applies, in fact. 
There is absolute domination of rough, haphazard, omnidirectional line; the voids they leave behind create a pattern of shapes across the canvas. They are varied by their values in tangled masses, which imply a hint of plastic depth in the summation of their directionalities. Careful inspection reveals crispness in their definitions, which has a flattening effect. Gestalt more than anything defines the shallow depth we see. The juxtapositions in light, middle and black values define the formal subject matter. 

By evenly distributing energy, movement and applying sharp global definition, more “room” is reserved for this work’s emotional and conceptual content. Harmonizing relationships predominate; value builds interest. Arguably, this could qualify as a work of process art; evidence of it’s creation is crystal-clear. The agitated, chaotic energy and movement of strokes across the canvas reflects the unique tensions of the time period as well.