New York School and The Black Arts Movement
New York School and The Black Arts Movement
New York School and The Black Arts Movement
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BSEE 38
New York School and the Black Arts Movement
1950’s -1960’s
Inspiration derived from surrealism and modernism
Surrealism -cultural movement which began in the 1920’s “Element of surprise”.
Modernism- A style or movement in the arts that aims to break with classical and
traditional forms.
rejection of the dominant school of confessional poetry
deeply influenced by the action painters of the 1950s and 1960s, particularly Jackson
Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Larry Rivers.
Barbara Guest
Echoes
Once more riding down to Venice on borrowed horses,
Kenneth Koch
John Ashbery
1927- Present
Father – Farmer, mother – Biology teacher
Attended Harvard graduated in 1949.
Receives Fulbright Fellowship.
During this time he becomes an editor of the 12 issues of Art and Literature
served as the art editor for the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune
1963, Andy Warhol, known for pop art.
A Wave (1984)
Mirror (1975)
Three Poems (1972)
April Galleons (1987)
Shadow Train (1981)
The Double Dream of Spring (1970)
Turandot and Other Poems (1953)
Frank O’ Hara
Notable Works
The Black Arts Movement was a Black nationalism movement that focused on music,
literature, drama, and the visual arts made up of Black artists and intellectuals.
The Black Arts Movement sought to change how blacks were represented and portrayed in
literature and the arts.
The Black Arts Movement began—symbolically, at least—the day after Malcolm X was
assassinated in 1965. The poet LeRoi Jones gave the movement its name, (soon to
rename himself Amiri Baraka) announced he would leave his integrated life in New York
City’s Lower East Side for Harlem. There he founded the Black Arts Repertory
Theatre/School (BARTS), home to workshops in poetry, playwriting, music, and painting.
The Black Arts, wrote poet Larry Neal, was “the aesthetic and spiritual sister of the
Black Power concept.” As with that burgeoning political movement, the Black Arts
Movement emphasized self-determination for Black people, a separate cultural existence
for Black people on their own terms, and the beauty and goodness of being Black.
The group called for the creation of poetry, novels, visual arts, and theater to reflect pride in
black history and culture. This new emphasis was an affirmation of the autonomy of black
artists to create black art for black people as a means to awaken black consciousness and
achieve liberation.
Writers/Poets
The Black Arts Movement started with Amiri Baraka [LeRoi Jones].
Notable Works
James Baldwin's novels included Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), Giovanni's Room
(1956), Another Country (1962), and If Beale Street Could Talk (1974; film 2018). He wrote
the plays The Amen Corner (1955) and Blues for Mister Charlie (1964)
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique
improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire,
including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser", "Ruby, My Dear",
"In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't