She had other unflattering nicknames as well Elaine de Kooning called her “Pink Mink” and Frank O’Hara dubbed her the “death car girl.” The nickname, however, had an edge to it as several in the Astract Expressionist circle felt that Kligman had perhaps too hastily began a relation with de Kooning after the death of Pollock. Despite his catty comment, the two seemed to be close friends. The two had a playful relationship and Kline once called Kligman “Miss Grand Concourse,” referring to the major Bronx thoroughfare that was known for its flashiness and seduction. She was also a friend to Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline. Still from “Blow Job,” Andy Warhol, 1964. She opened a gallery in Greenwich Village and premiered one of Warhol’s short films, “Blow Job,” there in March of that year. They were close through 1964 and supportive of each other in the art world. She claims they had a crush on each other and Warhol writes of her in his diaries. In the 1960s, she drew the fascination of Andy Warhol: she looked like Elizabeth Taylor and was an artistic muse to some of the best-known artists of the previous decade. He said of her that “she seemed to express a genuine erotic affection for well-known artists.” The two became friends and possibly, albeit briefly, lovers. While at a restaurant with de Kooning during their affair, she met Jasper Johns, who was widely known to be gay, and was immediately taken with him. Left to Right: Jane Freilicher, Ruth Kligman, Willem de Kooning.Īn attraction to creativity (and a personal desire for it) is how Klingman described the natural attraction that she had for modern artists, and she befriended several other artists of the period. Two years later, in 1958, she would go on to study at the Art Students League. Kligman, who was an abstract artist herself, was greatly inspired by Pollock. And yet, Pollock suffered from alcoholism and was growing weary with his celebrity. He had become the poster child for a new painting style dubbed Abstract Expressionism, and his work and unusual painting technique were an inspiration to many artists. She was only 26-years old when she began seeing the infamous “Jack the Dripper,” who was her senior by almost two decades.Īt the time, Pollock was at the peak of his fame. The enchanting and gregarious Kligman met Pollock at a small gallery in New York where she worked as an assistant. In addition to her sexual relationships with Pollock and Willem de Kooning, she had strong friendships with Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Franz Kline. Ruth Kligman’s unusual and little-known story is interwoven into the history of modern art. In fact, she was an artist herself, but is better known today for relationships-sometimes sexual-with several well-known artists in the 1950s and 1960s. The only survivor of Jackson Pollock’s deadly car crash in 1956 also happened to be his lover.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |