Description
Book SynopsisThis 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, from 1950 to his death. It traces O'Hara's distinguished curatorial career at home and abroad, situating his work for MoMA's International Program, as well as the Jewish Museum in New York, within the Cold War politics of the day.
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, his fascinating career as a curator, where he oversaw exhibitions of the likes of Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, Mark Tobey and Seymour Lipton, among others, has been eclipsed by the critical attention given over to his poetry. Drawing on a broad range of unpublished archival material, Curating Modern Life reveals the impact O'Hara's curatorial work had both on th
