The New York School Poets painters 1950s 60s

The New York School • Poets & painters • 1950’s & 60’s • Poetes were inspired by painters such as Jackson Pollock • Poetry known for urbane wit, casual style, serious & ironic tones

Why I Am Not a Painter (1956) Frank O’Hara (1926 -1966) One day I am thinking of • “A poet among painters” a color: orange. I write a line • born in Baltimore, Maryland about orange. Pretty soon it is a • Serious music student – piano whole page of words, not lines. • Served in the South Pacific, Then another page. There should be WW 2 so much more, not of orange, of • Harvard University words, of how terrible orange is • Very prolific poet! and life. Days go by. It is even in • Died in NY – struck by car prose, I am a real poet. My poem is finished and I haven't mentioned orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery I see Mike's painting, called SARDINES. “The Day Lady Died” A tribute to Jazz singer Billie Holiday “Poetry is my life. ”

Just when I thought there wasn’t room enough for another thought in my head, I had this great idea-call it a philosophy of life, if you will. Briefly, it involved living the way philosophers live, according to a set of principles. OK, but which ones? John Ashbery: Poet’s View John Ashbery • • • born 1927 in NY Raised on a farm Attended all boys school Graduated Harvard Friend of Andy Warhol Won many awards for poetry

James Schuyler (1923 -1991) • Grew up in Chicago & NY • Served in Navy during WW 2 • O’Hara, Ashbery & Schuyler shared an apartment in Manhattan “A Man in Blue” Kenneth Koch (1925 -2002) • • • Born in Cincinnati, Ohio Infantryman in Army, WW 2 Harvard graduate Ph. D Columbia Universtity Died of leukemia Reading “The Pleasures of Peace” in 2002

Barbara Guest (1920 -2006) • • • born in North Carolina Grew up in California Graduated UCLA & UC Berkeley Reading her poem “ 20” Reading her poem “A Reason”