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Pollock now freed himself to discover the structure of his work in the very act of painting. In the 1947 picture, Lucifer, each new layer of dripped color seems to begin by following the guideline of a previous layer, and then leap free to trace its own trajectory. Trails of silver and creamy white create a sense of open space, traversed by denser black filaments that set up a subliminal but insistent rhythm. Long tubular strands of yellow and orange shoot across the surface of the canvas, punctuating the composition with brilliant color.