America, Portrait of A. Ginsberg, 1985
Oil on linen, 71” x 40”
Allen Ginsberg was called the Poet Laureate of the Beat Generation and was known for his outrageousness while emoting a teddy bear quality. He studied at Columbia where he became friends with William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. In 1955, Ginsberg was declared guilty of obscenity for his infamous poem Howl that was published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Press. He became a rallying point for freedom of speech issues and the judgment eventually was overturned because of the works’ “redeeming social importance.” He shared friendships with Timothy Leary and Bob Dylan. Ginsberg’s work had an openness that was fresh and was informed notably by the influence of Walt Whitman and William Blake. Ginsberg was known for his ranting presentations when reading his poems, such as America, which laments changes in American culture and consumer capitalism. He would delight his audiences with his sense of humor though at times his angst and anger were clear. He died in 1997 and is cherished for his pivotal role between the beat Generation and the counter-culture of the Sixties.
Alice Neel died in 1984 and I was invited to her Memorial February 7, 1985 at the Whitney Museum of Art where Allen Ginsberg read his poem “White Shroud” for the first time. During the reception, following the service, I met Ginsberg. I told him when I moved to New York I came home, before that I was a displaced person. We had a wonderful conversation and it was one of my all time great New York experiences. At the end of the evening, I looked up at him and said, “can I paint you?” and he said, “what would be involved?” I said I would need to take some photographs to work from and he said “sure” and gave me his phone number. On the day, I went to his apartment on the Lower East Side to take the photographs, I rang the bell and he leaned out of the second floor window and threw a sock down. The sock had a hole in it and a key was inside. I let myself in and went upstairs and took the photographs. I had him pose in front of his books so I could later study what he read. Blake and Whitman. A few years ago, I discovered that a photograph I sent Ginsberg of this painting is in Ginsberg’s Papers at the Stanford Library. He kept it. That made me smile.
Oil on linen, 71” x 40”
Allen Ginsberg was called the Poet Laureate of the Beat Generation and was known for his outrageousness while emoting a teddy bear quality. He studied at Columbia where he became friends with William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. In 1955, Ginsberg was declared guilty of obscenity for his infamous poem Howl that was published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Press. He became a rallying point for freedom of speech issues and the judgment eventually was overturned because of the works’ “redeeming social importance.” He shared friendships with Timothy Leary and Bob Dylan. Ginsberg’s work had an openness that was fresh and was informed notably by the influence of Walt Whitman and William Blake. Ginsberg was known for his ranting presentations when reading his poems, such as America, which laments changes in American culture and consumer capitalism. He would delight his audiences with his sense of humor though at times his angst and anger were clear. He died in 1997 and is cherished for his pivotal role between the beat Generation and the counter-culture of the Sixties.
Alice Neel died in 1984 and I was invited to her Memorial February 7, 1985 at the Whitney Museum of Art where Allen Ginsberg read his poem “White Shroud” for the first time. During the reception, following the service, I met Ginsberg. I told him when I moved to New York I came home, before that I was a displaced person. We had a wonderful conversation and it was one of my all time great New York experiences. At the end of the evening, I looked up at him and said, “can I paint you?” and he said, “what would be involved?” I said I would need to take some photographs to work from and he said “sure” and gave me his phone number. On the day, I went to his apartment on the Lower East Side to take the photographs, I rang the bell and he leaned out of the second floor window and threw a sock down. The sock had a hole in it and a key was inside. I let myself in and went upstairs and took the photographs. I had him pose in front of his books so I could later study what he read. Blake and Whitman. A few years ago, I discovered that a photograph I sent Ginsberg of this painting is in Ginsberg’s Papers at the Stanford Library. He kept it. That made me smile.