Sadie Hackney Sarah Stilwell

Caleb Nzere Kirsten Munson

Adam Lehman

Origin and Scope:

- Basic features:
- The basic features of the New York School (art) are poetry, painting, dancing,and
music (lumenlearning.com).
- Who were the writers associated with group:
- Some of the leading New York School poets and artists were John Ashbery,
Barbara Guest, Kenneth Koch, Frank O'Hara, and James Schuyler (poets.org).
- What time period was this group in:
- According to poets.org, the New York School poetry movement began in the
1940’s.
- How long did it last:
- The New York School movement lasted from 1940-1960. So about 20 years
(visual-arts-cork.com).
- What does a reader need to know to get oriented with this group or movement:
- O'Hara was one of the most distinguished members of the group before his death
in 1966. His numerous friendships and his post as a curator at the ​Museum of
Modern Art​ provided connections between the poets and painters such as ​Jane
Freilicher​, ​Fairfield Porter​, and ​Larry River​s, his lover (poets.org)(Silverberg).
- Concerning the New York School poets, their poetic subject matter was often
light, violent, or observational, while their writing style was “experimental,
philosophical, staunchly anti-establishment, and anti-academic”
(studentwritingcenter.us).

Historical and Social Context:

- This group of poets began in the 1940’s in New York City.
- The New York School seems to have been inspired by surrealism and other abstract
styles of writing. They were connected to musicians, artists, and even dancers. Several of
their members worked at the Museum of Modern Art.
- The group was very loosely bound, and seemed to be influenced heavily by the arts.
However, there’s little to no indication they were trying to answer a problem or question,
perhaps due to the loose nature of the group.
- The New York School seemed to be influenced by the avant-garde style contemporary to
their time, along with modernism. Specifically, they were influenced by the city the
group is named after, and the people who lived there. They were also attracted to
collaborating with painters and artists in particular.
- Many of the poets had their first poetry published under the Tibor de Nagy Gallery
imprint, specifically by John Bernard Myers, according to Poets.org.
 Frank O’Hara at a reading party
Vogue.com

Literary Goals:
- What distinguishes the group/movement in the aesthetic goals of their writing
- The goal of this movement was to “bring readers into the experience rather than
have them contemplate it”
- The poets of this movement incorporated conceptual art, which draws attention
away from texture of objects and towards play on languages and ideas
(Silverberg).
- How did they seek change/innovate on existing forms and why
- The New York School, according to the New York Times, “successfully
extend[ed] the great modernist experiment of the 20th-century art”. They
renovated vocabulary and people’s way of thinking, seeing and feeling
(nytimes.org).
- What characterizes their work
- The New York School was known for their influence of surrealism and
modernism. Although their poetry was serious, it also was ironic because it
incorporated “urban sensibility” throughout their poems (poetry.org).
- Are there particular genres they practiced
- This group participated in modernism, which included novels, poems, etc. Many
of the traditional rules for poetry pre-modernism were broken during this time
period which allowed writing styles to vary (modernismapenglish).
- What characterizes their literary aesthetics
- Abstract expressionist was a major influence in their style of writing (poets.org)
- The New York School Movement’s writers and poetry were avant- garde
(nytimes.org).
Major Works:
1. “Digression on Number I” (1948)- Frank O’Hara
-This piece by one of the main figures of the New York School “illustrates the
closeness of visual art and poetry” (umwblogs.org). The New York School is
known for more than its poetry; some of its members are well renowned for their
paintings, and the poets of the movement are heavily inspired by the artists.

2. ​Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry​ (1970)- Kenneth Koch
-Koch wrote this book about teaching New York City school children to write
poetry, and in turn introduced the “poetic lie.” This was a huge turning point in the world of
poetry, as one of the main conventions of poetry is to convey truth.

3. ​The Last Avant-Garde: the Making of the New York School of Poets​ (1998)- David
Lehman
-This book by Lehman is basically a biography of the New York School,
chronicling its foundings and members. The book features a special focus on Frank O’Hara, John
Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, and James Schuyler.

4. “The Mirror Naturally Stripped” (1954)- Kenneth Koch and Frank O’Hara
- This poem, written by both Koch and O’Hara, appears in the John Bernard
Myers-edited ​Semi-Colon, Vol II, No. I.​ The poem, though written by two people, flows together
beautifully and effortlessly, and is written in first person singular, not plural. (googlebooks.com)
5. “New Year’s Eve” (1961)- Kenneth Koch and John Ashbery
-This poem, written by Koch and Ashbery, appears in ​Locus Solus 2, a​ literary
journal. The poem is very playful, with few restrictions and requirements. I think the two poets
had a lot of fun with this piece (wordpress.com).

An excerpt from John Ashbery’s “My Philosophy Of Life” poem does well to illustrate
the school and its attitudes: “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?”
(poets.org)

Grace Hartigan once made a statement referencing the New York School: “There’s a time when
what you’re creating and the environment you’re creating it in come together.” (poets.org)
See Also:
- What are other related movements/groups/styles
- Obviously, the second generation of the New York School had a similar but
different style than the first generation (poets.org).
- Some related styles of poetry are modernism and surrealism (poets.org).
- How did your group influence other writers
- The New York School influenced future poets greatly. They are considered to be
the precursor to a variety of postmodern movements in poetry, for example,
language poetry. The idea that anything in life could be used to write poetry
stemmed from the New York School (studentwritingcenter.us).

Further Reading:
1. Silverberg, Mark. ​The New York School Poets and the Neo-Avant-Garde Between
Radical Art and Radical Chic. Taylor and Francis, 2016.
2. https://modernismapenglish.weebly.com/historical-background.html
3. http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/04/specials/koch-ny.html
4. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-new-york-school
5. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/abstract-expressionism/

Works Cited

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=1o6irQDiZxEC&pg=PA197&lpg=PA197&dq=the+
mirror+naturally+stripped&source=bl&ots=PopxzdV_r-&sig=d8GHx5WSUhX1XI20LV
1-WNgK_58&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3n7bjsd_YAhVFKKwKHU9iDFsQ6AEIQ
zAA#v=onepage&q=the%20mirror%20naturally%20stripped&f=false
2. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/artists-poets-new-york-school
3. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-new-york-school
4. https://newyorkschoolpoets.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/new-years-eve-a-collaborative-po
em-by-john-ashbery-and-kenneth-koch/
5. http://copof10.umwblogs.org/multimedia-rpt-list/new-york-school/
6. https://www.studentwritingcenter.us/american-poetry-2/the-new-york-school-the-new-yo
rk.html