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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Frank O'Hara and MoMA: New York Poet, Global Curator

Frank O'Hara and MoMA: New York Poet, Global Curator

Holman, Matthew

Paperback

Biographies GeneralAmerican Art - GeneralGeneral Art

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1350398632
ISBN13: 9781350398634
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: Sep 4 2025
Pages: 240
Weight: 1.16
Height: 0.59 Width: 6.31 Depth: 9.09
Language: English

This is the first book to closely examine the curatorial work that the celebrated poet Frank O'Hara (1926-1966) undertook for the Museum of Modern Art in New York and abroad.

Upon his premature death, the New York Times obituary ran with the headline: 'Frank O'Hara, 40, Museum Curator / Exhibitions Aide at Modern Art Dies - Also a Poet'. However, in the half a century since, O'Hara's fascinating career as a curator, where he oversaw exhibitions of the likes of Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, David Smith, and Larry Rivers, among others, has been eclipsed by the critical attention given over to his poetry. Drawing on a broad range of unpublished archival material, the book reveals the impact O'Hara's curatorial work had both on the reception of American modern art abroad and on the curatorial profession itself.

It focuses on his travelling exhibitions for MoMA's International Program, a vehicle for soft power during the fraught years of the cultural Cold War, exposing him to new art, artists, and cities, while developing important transnational networks far from New York, from Madrid to Venice, Zagreb to Otterlo.

Bringing together close readings of O'Hara's poems and unpublished letters with a selection of archival illustrations, Holman argues for O'Hara's sense of exuberant continuity between life as a writer and a curator, an American and a cosmopolitan - revealing that he was so much more besides the quintessential New York poet. It is perfect reading for anyone interested in American art in the mid-20th century, curatorial and museum studies, or simply this lesser known but fascinating aspect of the legendary poet's career.

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