Overview
Between 1952, when Frank O’Hara published his first collection of poems, and his death, in 1966, at the early age of forty, he became recognized as a quintessential American poet whose vernacular phrasing, both worldly and lyrical, beautifully told of the urban life of his generation. In addition to the contribution he made to American literature, O’Hara was a vital figure in the New York cultural scene and spent many years working at The Museum of Modern Art, where, having begun by taking a job selling postcards on the admissions desk, he ultimately became an associate curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture. And when he unexpectedly died, in an accident on the beach at Fire Island, New York, he was deeply mourned by the Museum’s staff and by the New York art world.In Memory of My Feelings was published by the Museum in 1967 to honor its late curator. The book was edited by the poet Bill Berkson, who had been a close friend of O’Hara’s and was then a guest editor in the Museum’s Department of Publications. Berkson invited thirty artists who had known O’Hara, ranging from Willem de Kooning to Claes Oldenburg, from Joan Mitchell to Jasper Johns, to produce works to accompany his poems. The book was issued in a limited edition as a set of folded sheets held loose in a cloth-and-board folio that was itself contained in a slipcase. Now, for the first time, the Museum has republished In Memory of My Feelings in a conventionally bound edition, and with a newly designed paper jacket instead of a slipcase. In every other way, however, this book is an exact facsimile of the edition of 1967.
Synopsis
Between 1952, when Frank O Hara published his first collection of poems, and his death, in 1966, at the early age of forty, he became recognized as a quintessential American poet whose vernacular phrasing, both worldly and lyrical, beautifully told of the urban life of his generation. In addition to the contribution he made to American literature, O Hara was a vital figure in the New York cultural scene and spent many years working at The Museum of Modern Art, where, having begun by taking a job selling postcards on the admissions desk, he ultimately became an associate curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture. And when he unexpectedly died, in an accident on the beach at Fire Island, New York, he was deeply mourned by the Museum s staff and by the New York art world.
In Memory of My Feelings was published by the Museum in 1967 to honor its late curator. The book was edited by the poet Bill Berkson, who had been a close friend of O Hara s and was then a guest editor in the Museum s Department of Publications. Berkson invited thirty artists who had known O Hara, ranging from Willem de Kooning to Claes Oldenburg, from Joan Mitchell to Jasper Johns, to produce works to accompany his poems. The book was issued in a limited edition as a set of folded sheets held loose in a cloth-and-board folio that was itself contained in a slipcase. Now, for the first time, the Museum has republished In Memory of My Feelings in a conventionally bound edition, and with a newly designed paper jacket instead of a slipcase. In every other way, however, this book is an exact facsimile of the edition of 1967.