Knowra John Ashbery John Ashbery John Ashbery (1927–2017) was an American poet and art critic known for innovative, formally varied verse. His collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror won the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award.
New York School : A group of mid-century New York poets and artists associated with experimental writing and avant-garde art. Ashbery belonged to this loose circle, whose artists and poets exchanged ideas and influences.
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror : John Ashbery’s 1975 poetry collection, which includes a long poem inspired by Parmigianino’s painting. The title poem brings painting, perception, and changing thought together in Ashbery’s best-known work.
Frank O'Hara : An American poet associated with the New York School, known for conversational poems rooted in city life and art. His close friendship with Ashbery connected two distinct poetic voices within the New York School.
Parmigianino : An Italian Renaissance painter whose 1524 portrait is known as Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror . The painting gives Ashbery’s poem its subject and prompts its reflections on vision and representation.
Robert Lowell : An American poet known for formally ambitious verse and autobiographical writing. Lowell’s confessional emphasis offers a contrast to Ashbery’s resistance to stable personal revelation.
Surrealism : An artistic and literary movement that used unexpected juxtapositions, dream imagery, and irrational association. Surrealist techniques help explain the abrupt associations in Ashbery’s poems.
The Tennis Court Oath : John Ashbery’s 1962 poetry collection, known for collage-like composition and radical fragmentation. This early collection makes his break with conventional poetic coherence especially visible.
Kenneth Koch : An American poet and teacher associated with the New York School of poetry. Koch and Ashbery shared an experimental literary circle and helped shape its poetic identity.
Abstract Expressionism : A postwar art movement characterized by nonrepresentational painting and emphasis on gesture or color. Ashbery wrote criticism about contemporary art, including the New York scene surrounding this movement.
Elizabeth Bishop : An American poet acclaimed for precise observation, formal control, and carefully shaped description. Bishop’s exacting clarity contrasts with Ashbery’s digressions and shifting, open-ended syntax.
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