Mike Goldberg's Why I M Not A Painter
The title of this particular Frank O'Hara poem is a direct reflection of its theme and overall meaning. The speaker of the poem, Frank, is recalling a memory he has of a particular moment in time that made him consider why he chooses to wire poetry over expressing himself through another artistic medium over the course of three free-verse stanzas. "Why I'm Not A Painter" is one of the many confessional poems to come out of New York School era of poetry.
At first glance, the dominant images in this poem are the oranges and the sardines; but more than that, it is not just the sardines and oranges themselves as the animal/food, but what they stand for. Mike Goldberg's painting does not include any sign or allusion to sardines, it is simply the title of the piece. Much like "ORANGES" is the title of O'Hara's collection of poems which can have nothing to do with oranges whatsoever. When we look deeper into the history of the New York School of Poets we are given clues as to what these two images--sardines and oranges--truly mean. …show more content…
Frank O'Hara was a park of the New York School scene in the 1950s and 60s; a group of artists of varying mediums and backgrounds who all lived in NYC and took inspiration from surrealism, theater, avant-grade art, abstract expressionism, and much more.
Mike Goldberg, the painter in this poem, was an abstract expressionist. It is well known that there was a certain kind of tension between the poets and the painters of the New York School movement that in some cases could have been described as jealousy. This tension stems from the battle between the philosophical expression in poetry, and the visual expression in paintings. From this poem alone there is no proof that this was the case between Goldberg and O'Hara, but knowing that history can help with an analytical
reading.
The theme of this piece, now that we know of the backstory and the events which take place in the poem, is that when it comes to art, the end result is rarely what you originally wanted it to be. We see this in the fact that there were sardines in Goldberg's painting at the start, yet at the end all that remained of the little fishes was the name in the title of the piece. The same goes for O'Hara and his ORANGES collection, which was inspired by the color and once he finished he had 12 poems, none of which mention anything to do with the color.
At first glance, the dominant images in this poem are the oranges and the sardines; but more than that, it is not just the sardines and oranges themselves as the animal/food, but what they stand for. Mike Goldberg's painting does not include any sign or allusion to sardines, it is simply the title of the piece. Much like "ORANGES" is the title of O'Hara's collection of poems which can have nothing to do with oranges whatsoever. When we look deeper into the history of the New York School of Poets we are given clues as to what these two images--sardines and oranges--truly mean. …show more content…
Frank O'Hara was a park of the New York School scene in the 1950s and 60s; a group of artists of varying mediums and backgrounds who all lived in NYC and took inspiration from surrealism, theater, avant-grade art, abstract expressionism, and much more.
Mike Goldberg, the painter in this poem, was an abstract expressionist. It is well known that there was a certain kind of tension between the poets and the painters of the New York School movement that in some cases could have been described as jealousy. This tension stems from the battle between the philosophical expression in poetry, and the visual expression in paintings. From this poem alone there is no proof that this was the case between Goldberg and O'Hara, but knowing that history can help with an analytical
reading.
The theme of this piece, now that we know of the backstory and the events which take place in the poem, is that when it comes to art, the end result is rarely what you originally wanted it to be. We see this in the fact that there were sardines in Goldberg's painting at the start, yet at the end all that remained of the little fishes was the name in the title of the piece. The same goes for O'Hara and his ORANGES collection, which was inspired by the color and once he finished he had 12 poems, none of which mention anything to do with the color.