Frank O'Hara: A Poet among Painters

In 1951, poet Frank O'Hara got a job selling postcards at the gift shop of the Museum of Modern rt in !e" #ork $it%&just so he could ha'e access to see the paintings( Onl% four %ears later, he returned to the MoM , but this time as an administrator( His )uick ascension speaks to the passion, kno"ledge, and enthusiasm he had for the !e" #ork $it% art "orld, a "orld that "as thoroughl% infused into his "riting( *uring the 195+s and 19,+s, O'Hara befriended and championed the ne" do"nto"n artists, curated e-hibits, "rote monographs and catalog cop%, and e-pressed his 'arious and unusual ideas about the art "orld in his o"n poetr%( O'Hara "as also the subject of numerous portraits b% !e" #ork .chool painters, including !ell /laine, 0race Hartigan, 1arr% 2i'ers, and 3ane Freilicher, "ho suggested that O'Hara appeared in so man% paintings because he "as al"a%s hanging around artist's studios( O'Hara "anted to be as in'ol'ed in the artistic process as possible, "hether it meant stretching can'ases or posing as a model( He built close associations "ith 4illem de 5ooning and 3ackson 6ollock, "ho "ere just beginning to be kno"n as bstract 7-pressionists( He also befriended up8 and8coming painters such as 2ichard *iebenkorn and $% 9"ombl%( 4hen O'Hara returned to "ork at the MoM as a special assistant in 1955, he had de'eloped his friendships "ith se'eral important painters, and he had become a notable and prolific re'ie"er for maga:ines such as ARTnews( He "as in'ited to take on more responsibilit%, including selecting paintings for se'eral important e-hibitions, including The New American Painting and the /ienal in .ao 6aulo, /ra:il, "hich included a no"8famous selection of 6ollock paintings( He "as a particularl% great defender of 6ollock's later "ork, "hich man% critics initiall% dismissed( /et"een 1955 and 19,,, his curatorial "ork for the museum "as "ide8ranging and criticall% praised; his )ualifications "ere his e-cellent e%e for art and a kno"ledge of 'arious painting traditions, though he lacked the formal schooling usuall% necessar% for museum "ork( Ho"e'er, poetr% and painting "ere not held sacred abo'e other art forms( < fter all,< he "rote, <onl% 4hitman and $rane and 4illiams, of the merican poets, are better than the mo'ies(< O'Hara enjo%ed the arts freel% and unpretentiousl%, taking in a ballet as fre)uentl% and casuall% as one might see a mo'ie( In <Ha'ing a $oke "ith #ou< he "rites= I look at %ou and I "ould rather look at %ou than all the portraits in the "orld e-cept possibl% for the Polish Rider occasionall% and an%"a% it's in the Frick "hich thank hea'ens %ou ha'en't gone to %et so "e can go together for the first time and the fact that %ou mo'e so beautifull% more or less takes care of Futurism just as at home I ne'er think of the Nude Descending a Staircase His art criticism "as as free as his poetr%; "hile ne'er completel% stra%ing from precise critical language, he allo"ed himself some poetic di'ersions "hen the

subject called for it( For e-ample, in a re'ie" of a 9"ombl% e-hibition for ARTnews, he "rote, <9hough the% are all "hite "ith black and gre% scoring, the range is far from a "hisper, and this ne" de'elopment makes the painting itself the form( bird seems to ha'e passed through the impasto "ith cream8 colored screams and bitter cla"marks(< Of painter 3ohn Ferren, he "rote, <some of the pictures had a "ild natural humor like a 'ase of flo"ers knocked o'er(< In his poetr%, he dre" upon the "orld of painting and sculpture, incorporating contemporar% artists and their "orks b% name( He "as free to mo'e deeper into poetic language and thought than he had in his criticism, "hile maintaining the ease, spontaneit%, and naturalness characteristic of his "ork( 9he Frank O'Hara poem <4h% I m !ot a 6ainter< begins= I am not a painter, I am a poet( 4h%> I think I "ould rather be a painter, but I am not( 4ell, for instance, Mike 0oldberg is starting a painting( I drop in <.it do"n and ha'e a drink< he sa%s( I drink; "e drink( I look up( <#ou ha'e . 2*I!7. in it(< He goes on to sketch the e'olution of a painting "here the "ord . 2*I!7. is remo'ed because it's <too much,< but becomes the title of the painting( 9he poetic e)ui'alent is the poem he is "riting "here he "rites pages and pages <of ho" terrible orange is? and life< "ithout e'er mentioning the color, entitling the poem <Oranges(< 9his is one of the reasons critic and poet Marjorie 6erloff called O'Hara <a 6oet among 6ainters<= "hile den%ing in this poem that he kne" an%thing about 'isual art, or had an% understanding of the process, he sho"s elegantl% and easil% the relationship bet"een t"in artistic processes, ele'ating his "riting about art to the le'el of the art he "as "riting about( 8 .ee more at= http=??"""(poets(org?'ie"media(php?prmMI*?59@+Asthash(ak,#ns7a(dpuf