New York School



The New York School (synonymous with abstract expressionist painting) was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City. The poets, painters, composers, dancers, and musicians often drew inspiration from Surrealism and the contemporary avant-garde art movements, in particular action painting, abstract expressionism, Jazz, improvisational theater, experimental music, and the interaction of friends in the New York City art world's vanguard circle.

The Poets
Concerning the New York School poets, critics argued that their work was a reaction to the Confessionalist movement in Contemporary Poetry. Their poetic subject matter was often light, violent, or observational, while their writing style was often described as cosmopolitan and world-traveled. The poets often wrote in a direct, and immediate, spontaneous, manner reminiscent of word/paintings, and stream of consciousness writing, often using vivid, and visual imagery. They drew on inspiration from Surrealism and the contemporary avant-garde art movements, in particular the action painting of their friends in the New York City art world circle like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.

Poets most often associated with the New York School are John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler, Barbara Guest, Ted Berrigan, Bernadette Mayer, Alice Notley, Kenward Elmslie, Ron Padgett, Lewis Warsh, and Joseph Ceravolo.

O'Hara was at the center of the group before his death in 1966. His numerous friendships and post as a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, he provided connections between the poets and painters like Jane Freilicher, Fairfield Porter and Larry Rivers (also his lover). There were many joint works and collaborations: Rivers inspired a play by Koch, Koch and Ashbery together wrote the poem "A Postcard to Popeye", Ashbery and Schuyler wrote the novel A Nest of Ninnies, and Schuyler collaborated on an ode with O'Hara, whose portrait was painted by Rivers.

Koch, O'Hara, Schuyler and Ashbery were quite different as poets, but they admired each other and had much in common personally:


 * Except for Schuyler, all overlapped at Harvard University,
 * Except for Koch, all were homosexual,
 * Except for Ashbery, all did military service,
 * Except for Koch, all reviewed art,
 * Except for Ashbery, who soon moved to Paris, all lived in New York during their formative years as poets.

All four were inspired by French Surrealists like Raymond Roussel, Pierre Reverdy and Guillaume Apollinaire. David Lehman, in his book on the New York poets, wrote, "They favored wit, humor and the advanced irony of the blague (that is, the insolent prank or jest) in ways more suggestive of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg than of the New York School abstract expressionist painters after whom they were named."

The Beats
There are also commonalities between the New York School and the members of the beat generation poets also active in 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s New York City. Including Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Diane di Prima, Diane Wakoski, Anne Waldman, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, Norris Embry, and several others. Many of the poets, including Koch, Ashberry, Ginsberg, and Kerouac attended Columbia University.

The Composers
The term also refers to a circle of composers in the 1950s who orbited around John Cage: Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and Christian Wolff. Their music paralleled the music and events of the Fluxus group, and drew its name from the Abstract Expressionist painters above. What brought these artists together was a faith in the liberation of the unconscious and an excitement drawn from the street energies of Manhattan. In the 1960s the work of the avant-garde Minimalist composers La Monte Young, Philip Glass, Tony Conrad, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley became prominent in the New York art world.

The Dancers
During the 1960s the Judson Dance Theater located at the Judson Memorial Church, New York City, revolutionized Modern dance. Combining in new ways the idea of Performance art, radical and new Choreography, sound from avant-garde composers, and dancers in collaboration with several New York School Visual artists. The group of artists that formed Judson Dance Theater are considered the founders of Postmodern dance. The theater grew out of a dance composition class taught by Robert Dunn, a musician who had studied with John Cage. The artists involved with Judson Dance Theater were avant-garde experimenatalists who rejected the confines of ballet technique, vocabulary and theory.

The first Judson concert took place on July 6, 1962, with dance works presented by Steve Paxton, Freddie Herko, David Gordon, Alex and Deborah Hay, Yvonne Rainer, Elaine Summers, William Davis, and Ruth Emerson. Seminal dance artists that were a part of the Judson Dance Theater include: David Gordon, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Deborah Hay, Elaine Summers, Sally Gross, Aileen Passloff, and Meredith Monk. The years 1962 to 1964 are considered the golden age of the Judson Dance Theater.

During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s New York School artists collaborated with several other choreographer / dancers including: Simone Forti, Anna Halprin, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, and Paul Taylor.

Jazz
The new Bebop and cool jazz musicians in the 1940s and 1950s featuring Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Ahmad Jamal, Gerry Mulligan, and many other great Jazz musicians set the tone for the New York School and Abstract expressionism. Later new jazz musicians like Archie Shepp, Ornette Coleman, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, the evolving Miles Davis, and John Coltrane created the sounds for the new and more cool Hard-edge painters, Minimal artists, Color Field painters, Lyrical Abstractionists, and Pop artists of the 1960s.

New York School abstract expressionists of the 1950s
The New York School which represented the New York abstract expressionists of the 1950s was documented through a series of artists' committee invitational exhibitions commencing with the 9th Street Art Exhibition in 1951 and followed by consecutive exhibitions at the Stable Gallery, NYC: Second Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, 1953; Third Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, 1954; Fourth Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, 1955; Fifth  Annual Exhibitions of Painting and Sculpture, 1956 and Sixth  New York Artists’ Annual  Exhibition, 1957.

A

 * Herb Aach (1923–1985)
 * Mary Abbott (1921-)
 * Ruth Abrams (1912-1986)
 * Patricia Adams (1928-)
 * Peter Agostini (1913–1993)
 * Josef Albers (1888–1976)
 * Calvin Albert (1918–2007)
 * Olga Albizu (1924–2005)
 * Alfred L. Copley (1910–1992)
 * Anderson (NA)
 * Andrews (NA)
 * Anne Arnold (1925-)
 * Ruth Asawa (1926-)
 * Elise Asher (1914–2004)
 * Milton Avery (1885–1965)

B

 * Alice Baber (1928–1982)
 * William Baziotes (1912–1963)
 * Robert Beauchamp (1923–1995)
 * Rosemarie Beck (1923–2003)
 * Benn Ben (1884–1983)
 * J. Benton (NA)
 * Janice Biala (1903–2000)
 * Nell Blaine (1922–1996)
 * Ilya Bolotowsky (1907–1981)
 * Cameron Booth (1892–1980)
 * Rene Bouche (1906–1963)
 * Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010)
 * Paul Brach (1924–2007)
 * Theodore Brenson (1893–1959)
 * Ernest Briggs (1923–1984)
 * Gandy Brodie (1925–1975)
 * James Brooks (1906–1992)
 * Daniel Brustlein (Alain) (1904–1996)
 * Fritz Bultman (1919–1985)
 * Peter Busa (1914–1985)
 * John Button (1929–1982)

C

 * Charles Cajori (1921-)
 * Gretna Campbell (1922–1987)
 * M. Carles (NA)
 * Nicolas Carone (1917-2010)
 * Giorgio Cavallon (1904–1989)
 * Bernard Chaet (1924-)
 * Chase (NA)
 * Herman Cherry (1909–1992)
 * Carmen Cicero (1926-)
 * Robert F. Conover (1920–1998)
 * Edward Corbett (1919–1971)
 * Joseph Cornell (1903–1972)
 * Martin Craig (1906-)
 * Rollin Crampton (1896–1970)
 * Jane Crawford (1927-)
 * Hubert Crehan (NA)
 * Ben Cunningham (painter)|Ben Cunningham (1904–1975)

D

 * Nanno de Groot (1913–1963)
 * Dorothy Dehner (1901–1994)
 * Elaine de Kooning (1918-(1989)
 * Willem de Kooning (1904–1997)
 * Robert De Niro, Sr. (1922–1993)
 * Jose de Rivera (1904–1985)
 * Edwin Dickinson (1891–1978)
 * Burgoyne Diller (1906–1965)
 * Lois Dodd (1927-)
 * Enrico Donati (1909–2008)
 * Edward Dugmore (1915–1996)
 * Friedel Dzubas (1915–1994)

E

 * Thomas Brownell Eldred (1903–1993)
 * Arthur Elias (1925-)
 * Jimmy Ernst (1920–1984)

F

 * Fred Farr (1914–1973)
 * Sam L. Feinstein (1915-)
 * Herbert Ferber (1906–1991)
 * John Ferren (1905–1970)
 * Fick (NA)
 * Perle Fine (1908–1988)
 * Louis Finkelstein (1923–2000)
 * Joe Fiore (1925–2008)
 * Ida Fischer (1883–1956)
 * Fitzsimmons (NA)
 * Audrey Flack (1931-)
 * Jean Follet (1917–1991)
 * Miles Forst (1923-2006)
 * Helen Frankenthaler (1928-)
 * Seymour Frankes (NA)
 * Jane Freilicher (1924-)
 * Syd Fromboluti (1920-)

G

 * Sidney Geist (1914–2005)
 * William Getman (1916–1972)
 * Ilse Getz (1917–1992)
 * Julio Girona (1914-)
 * Fritz Glarner (1899–1972)
 * Joseph M. Glasco (1925–1996)
 * Michael Goldberg (Stuart) (1924–2007)
 * Sam Goodman (N/A)
 * Robert Goodnough (1917-)
 * Sidney Gordin (1918–1996)
 * Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974)
 * John D. Graham (1886–1961)
 * Balcomb Greene (1904–1990)
 * Gertrude G. Green (1904–1956)
 * Clement Greenberg (1909–1994)
 * John Grillo (1917-)
 * Peter Grippe (1912–2002)
 * Salvatore Grippi (1921-)
 * Joseph Groell (NA)
 * Jose Guerrero (1914–1992)
 * Philip Guston (1913–1980)

H

 * Ruth Hageman (NA)
 * Raoul Hague (1905–1993)
 * David Hare (1917–1992)
 * Grace Hartigan (1922–2008)
 * Fred Hauck (1905–1960)
 * Sally Hazelet (1924-)
 * Raymond Hendler (1923–1998)
 * Emil John Hess (1913-)
 * Clinton Hill (1922-)
 * Hans Hofmann (1880–1966)
 * Charles Hodges (NA)
 * John Hultberg (1922–2005)

I

 * Angelo Ippolito (1922–2002)
 * Richard Ireland (1925-)
 * Ben Isquith (N/A)

J

 * Harry Jackson (1924-)
 * Alfred Jensen (1903–1981)
 * Ben Johnson (artist) (1902–1967)
 * Lester Johnson (1919–2010)

K

 * Reuben Kadish (1913–1992)
 * Wolf Kahn (1927-)
 * Herbert Kallem (1909–1994)
 * Howard Kanovitz (1929–2009)
 * Morris Kantor (1896–1974)
 * Hubert Kappel (NA)
 * Alex Katz (1927-)
 * Earl Kerkam (1891–1965)
 * William Kienbusch (1914–1980)
 * Frederich Kiesler (1896–1965)
 * William King (1925-)


 * Klavin (NA)
 * Franz Kline (1910–1962)
 * Guitou Knoop (1909–1985)
 * Gabriel Kohn (1910–1975)
 * Albert Kotin (1907–1980)
 * Lee Krasner (1908–1984)
 * Albert Kresch (1922–)

L

 * Ibram Lassaw (1913–2003)
 * Alfred Leslie (1927-)
 * Israel Levitan(1912–1982)
 * Landes Lewitin (1892–1966)
 * Linda Lindeberg (1915–1973)
 * Richard Lippold (1915–2002)
 * Seymour Lipton (1903–1986)
 * John Little (1907–1984)
 * William H. Littlefield (1902–1969)
 * Michael Loew (1907–1985)
 * Vincent J. Longo (1923-)
 * David Lund (1925-)

M

 * M. Manning (NA)
 * Conrad Marca-Relli (1913–2000)
 * Marcia Marcus (1928-)
 * Boris Margo (1902–1995)
 * Marisol Escobar (1930-)
 * Nicholas Marsicano (1908–1991)
 * Knox Martin (1923-)
 * Alice T. Mason (1904–1971)
 * Mercedes Matter (1913–2001)
 * George McNeil (1908–1995)
 * Deven Mead (NA)
 * Joseph Messina (NA)
 * Jeanne Patterson Miles (1908–1999)
 * Fred Mitchell (1923-)
 * Joan Mitchell (1926–1992)
 * Hans Moller (1905-200)
 * Kyle Morris (1917–1979)
 * Robert Motherwell (1915–1991)
 * Jan Müller (1922–1958)

N

 * Reuben Nakian (1897–1986)
 * Louise Berliawsky Nevelson (1900–1988)
 * Al James Newbill (1921-)
 * Roy Newell (NA)
 * Nichols (NA)
 * Costantino Nivola (1911–1988)
 * Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988)

O

 * Kenzo Okada (1902–1982)
 * George Earl Ortman (1926-)
 * Cyril Osborn (NA)
 * Alfonso A. Ossorio (1916–1990)

P

 * Stephan Pace (1918-)
 * Charlotte Park (1918-)
 * Ray Parker (1922–1990)
 * Felix Pasilis (1922-)
 * Patricia Passlof (NA)
 * Philip Pavia (1912–2005)
 * Vincent Pepi (1926-)
 * Philip Pearlstein (1924-)
 * Howard Petersen (NA)
 * Vita Peterson (NA)
 * Piller (NA)
 * Reginald Pollack (1924–2001)
 * Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)
 * Fairfield Porter (1907–1975)
 * Richard Pousette-Dart (1916–1992)
 * Melville Price (1920–1970)

R

 * Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008)
 * Ad Reinhardt (1913–1967)
 * Wallace Reiss (1925–1978))
 * Theophil Reppke (N/A)
 * Milton Resnick (1917–2004)
 * Jeanne Reynal (1903–1983)
 * Robert Richenburg (1917–2006)
 * Larry Rivers (1923–2002)
 * Raymond Rocklin (1922-)
 * James Rosati (1911–1988)
 * Leatrice Rose (N/A)
 * Anne Ryan (1889–1954)

S

 * Attilio Salemme (1911–1955)
 * Ludwig Sander (1906–1975)
 * Joop Sanders (1921-)
 * Angelo Savelli (1911-)
 * Louis Schanker (1903–1981)
 * Miriam Schapiro (1923-)
 * Abram Schlemovitz (N/A)
 * Edith Schloss (1919-)
 * Day T. Schnabel (1905-)
 * Max Schnitzler (1903-)
 * Jon Schueler (1916–1992)
 * Ethel Schwabacher (1903–1984)
 * Sonia Sekula (1918–1963)
 * Charles Seliger (1926–2009)
 * Kurt Seligmann (1900–1962)
 * Thomas A. Sills (1914–2000)
 * David Slivka (1914–2010)
 * David Smith (1906–1965)
 * Hyde Solomon (1911–1982)
 * George Spaventa (1918–1978)
 * Ray Spillenger (1924-)
 * Nora Speyer (1923-)
 * Jack Squire (1927-)
 * Theodoros Stamos (1922–1997)
 * Richard Stankiewicz (1922–1983)
 * Joe Stefanelli (1921-)
 * John Stephan (1906–1994)
 * Hedda Sterne (1910-2011)
 * Jean Steubing (NA)

T

 * Anne Tabachnick (1927–1995)
 * Tavelli (NA)
 * Albert Terris (NA)
 * Yvonne Thomas (1913–2009)
 * Tolkach (NA)
 * Bradley Walker Tomlin (1899–1953)
 * Turku Trajan (1887–1957)
 * Stanley Twardowicz (1917–2008)
 * Cy Twombly (1928-2011)
 * Jack Tworkov (1900–1982)

V

 * Nicolai I. Vasilieff (1892–1970)
 * Esteban Vicente (1904–2001)
 * Vaclav Vytlacil (1892–1984)

W

 * Weil (NA)
 * Michael (Corinne) West (1908–1991)
 * Pennerton West (1913-)
 * Steve Wheeler (1912–1992)
 * Connie Whidden (NA)
 * William White (NA)
 * Norman Wiener (NA)
 * Jane Wilson (1924-)

Y

 * Taro Yamamoto (1919–1993)
 * Alice Yamin (NA)
 * Manoucher Yektai (1922-)
 * Adja Yunkers (1900–1983)

Z

 * Wilfrid Zogbaum (1915–1965)

African-American abstract expressionists of the 1950s
For African American artists a barrier to success in the post-War era was the prevailing blight of racism and segregation. This resulted in exclusion of artists of African-American origin from major exhibitions and critical attentions. The best evidence of this is the absence of African-American artists in the New York School Annuals between 1951 and 1957. These annual exhibitions represented a total of 265 New York School artists, none of whom were African-American.

Those artists would include the following:
 * Charles Alston (1907–1977)
 * Romare Bearden (1911–1988)
 * Edward Clark (1926- )
 * Beauford Delaney (1901–1979)
 * Harlan Jackson (1918- )
 * Norman Lewis (1909–1979)
 * Thomas Sills (1914–2000)
 * Merton Simpson (1928-)
 * Alma Thomas (1891–1978)
 * Hale Woodruff (1900–1980)

New York art scene in the late 1950s
Marilyn Stokstad, the British art historian, wrote: ’’When the United States emerged from World War II as the most powerful nation in the world, its new stature was soon reflected in the arts. American artists and architects-especially those living in New York City-assumed the leadership in artistic innovation that by the late 1950s had been acknowledged across the Atlantic Ocean, even in Paris. Critics, curators and art historians, trying to follow art’s ‘mainstream,’ now focused on New York as the new center of modernism.’’

The post-World War II era highly benefited some of the artists who were early on recognized by the Art critics of the post World War II era. According to Irving Sandler, ‘’From 1947 to 1951, more than a dozen Abstract Expressionists achieved ‘breakthroughs’ to independent styles. Younger artists who entered their circle in the early fifties-the early wave of the second generation were also acclaimed, but with a few exceptions, their reputation had gone into decline by the end of the fifties.’’ (Sandler verified the arbitrary notion of “generation:” It refers to a group of artists close in age who live in the same neighborhood at the same time, and to a greater or lesser degree, know each other and partake of a similar sensibility, a shared outlook and aesthetic.)

Some of the New York artists having no galleries or means to get ahead took advantage of the GI Bill and left for Europe to later return with acclaim. Among them were Norman Bluhm and Sam Francis. The majority of artists from all across the US arrived in New York City to seek recognition. By the end of the decade the list of artists associated with the New York School had greatly increased. (see: Complete List of Artists' Participation in the New York Painting and Sculpture Annuals, 1951–1957)

A list of artists associated with the New York art scene of the 1950s and not included in the New York Annuals would include the following:


 * Norman Bluhm (1921–1999)
 * Art Brenner (1924-)
 * Judith Brown (1931–1992)
 * Mary Callery (1903–1977)
 * John Chamberlain (1927-)
 * Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993)
 * Jim Dine (1935-)
 * Mark di Suvero (1933-)
 * Sam Francis (1923–1994)
 * Arshile Gorky (1904–1948)
 * Red Grooms (1937-)
 * Raoul Hague (1905–1993)
 * Al Held (1928–2005)
 * Paul Jenkins (1923-)
 * Jasper Johns (1930-)


 * Allan Kaprow (1927–2006)
 * Ellsworth Kelly (1923-)
 * Morris Louis (1912–1962)
 * Edward Meneeley (1927-)
 * Barnett Newman (1905–1970)
 * Kenneth Noland (1924-)
 * Claes Oldenburg (1929-)
 * Mark Rothko (1903–1970)
 * George Segal (1924–2000)
 * Leon Polk Smith (1906–1996)
 * Clyfford Still (1904–1980)
 * Mark Tobey (1890–1976)
 * John von Wicht (1888–1970)
 * Robert Whitman (1935-)

New York art scene in the late 1950s and 1960s
1957 represented the beginning of Pop Art and the following movements and/or trends. Painters, sculptors and printmakers associated with Abstract expressionism, Action painting, Fluxus, Color field painting, Hard-edge painting, Pop art, Minimal Art, Lyrical Abstraction, and other movements associated with New York City. During the 1950s through the early 1960s the artists often congregated at the Cedar Tavern in Greenwich Village and during the mid 1960s through the early 1970s at Max's Kansas City on Park Avenue South between 17th and 18th Streets.

The list of such artists would include the following:

B

 * Ron Bladen (1918–1988)
 * Joe Brainard (1942–1994)
 * David Budd (1927–1991)

C

 * John Connell (1940-)
 * Robert F. Conover (1920–1998)
 * Lawrence Calcagno (1913–1993)
 * Dan Christensen (1942–2007)
 * Chuck Close (1940-)

D

 * Nassos Daphnis (1914-2010)
 * Allan D'Arcangelo (1930–1998)

E

 * Norris Embry (1921–1981)

G

 * Leon Golub (1922–2004)
 * Nancy Graves (1940–1995)
 * Chaim Gross (1904–1991)

H

 * Julius Hatofsky (1922–2006)
 * Burt Hasen (1921–2007)
 * Eva Hesse (1936–1970)
 * Budd Hopkins (1931-)

J

 * Lenore Jaffee (1925-)
 * Benjy Jay (1986-)
 * Buffie Johnson (1912–2006)
 * Ray Johnson (1927–1995)
 * Donald Judd (1928–1994)

K

 * Weldon Kees (1914–1955)
 * Lyman Kipp (1927-)
 * Irving Kriesberg (1919–2009)
 * Nicholas Krushenick (1929–1999)
 * John Krushenick (1927–1998)

L

 * Ronnie Landfield (1947-)
 * Sol LeWitt (1928–2007)
 * Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997)
 * Lee Lozano (1930–1999)

M

 * Robert Mangold (1937-)
 * Brice Marden (1938-)
 * Ezio Martinelli (1913-1980)
 * Edward Meneeley (1927-)
 * Elizabeth Murray (1940–2007)

N

 * David Novros (1941-)

O

 * Doug Ohlson (1936–2010)
 * Frank O'Hara (1926–1966)
 * Jules Olitski (1922–2007)
 * Joe Overstreet (1933)

P

 * Larry Poons (1937-)
 * Fuller Potter (1910–1990)

R

 * Paul Rand (1914–1996)
 * Peter Reginato (1945-)
 * Leonard Rosenfeld (1926–2009)
 * James Rosenquist (1933-)
 * Theodore Roszak (1907–1981)
 * Jack Roth (1927-2004)[

S

 * Lucas Samaras (1936-)
 * Alan Saret (1944-)
 * Carolee Schneemann (1939)
 * Sean Scully (1945-)
 * Richard Serra (1939-)
 * Harold Shapinsky (1925–2004)
 * Alan Shields (1944–2005)
 * Kenneth Showell (1939–1997)
 * Peter Shulman (1937-)
 * Aaron Siskind (1903–1991)
 * Tony Smith (1912–1980)
 * Robert Smithson (1938–1973)
 * Kenneth Snelson (1927-)
 * Keith Sonnier (1941-)
 * Nancy Spero (1926-)
 * Frank Stella (1936 -)

T

 * Tony Towle (1939-)
 * Richard Tuttle (1941-)

V

 * Robert Vickers (1924–1988)

W

 * Andy Warhol (1928–1987)
 * Tom Weatherly (1942-)
 * Lawrence Weiner (1942-)
 * Neil Williams (1934–1988)
 * Hannah Wilke (1940–1993)

Z

 * Larry Zox (1937–2006)