Skip to main content

Allen Ginsberg (with Peter Orlovsky)

Allen Ginsberg (with Peter Orlovsky)
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Raphael Soyer, 25 Dec 1899 - 4 Nov 1987
Sitter
Allen Ginsberg, 3 Jun 1926 - 5 Apr 1997
Peter Orlovsky, 8 Jul 1933 - 30 May 2010
Date
1980
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 101.6 x 101.6cm (40 x 40")
Frame: 114.9 × 114.9 × 6.4cm (45 1/4 × 45 1/4 × 2 1/2")
Topic
Interior
Printed Material\Book
Printed Material\Papers
Allen Ginsberg: Male
Allen Ginsberg: Literature\Writer\Poet
Allen Ginsberg: Visual Arts\Artist\Photographer
Allen Ginsberg: Journalism and Media\Journalist\Reporter\Newspaper
Allen Ginsberg: Literature\Writer\Playwright
Peter Orlovsky: Male
Peter Orlovsky: Literature\Writer\Poet
Peter Orlovsky: Visual Arts\Artist's model
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mary Soyer
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Estate of Raphael Soyer, courtesy of Forum Gallery, New York
Object number
NPG.2009.114
Exhibition Label
Born New York City
Twentieth-century portrait painter Raphael Soyer continued to work in a realistic vein even as abstraction came to rule the art world. He was noted for his empathetic and sympathetic likenesses, especially of family and friends, such as the poet Allen Ginsberg. Soyer and Ginsberg were part of the post–World War II cultural scene in New York City, and they became friends after meeting in 1965. Ginsberg by then was famous as the author of “Howl”—the quintessential statement of postwar rebellion—and many subsequent works. Soyer signals Ginsberg’s poetic career by painting him holding a list that includes “Howl” and “Kaddish.” But Soyer really painted this dual portrait to commemorate the poet’s long relationship with Peter Orlovsky, with whom he lived and worked for nearly forty years.
Nacido en la ciudad de New York
Raphael Soyer, pintor retratista del siglo XX, continuó trabajando la vertiente realista incluso cuando la abstracción ocupó el trono en el mundo del arte. Soyer se distinguía por sus retratos afectuosos y simpáticos, sobre todo de familiares y amigos, como el poeta Allen Ginsberg. Ambos participaron en la escena cultural de posguerra en New York y entablaron amistad en 1965. Para entonces, Ginsberg ya era famoso por su poema “Howl”, paradigma del espíritu rebelde de la posguerra, y otros libros. En alusión a la carrera poética de Ginsberg, Soyer lo pinta sosteniendo una lista de títulos que incluye “Howl” y “Kaddish”. Pero el verdadero propósito de este retrato doble fue conmemorar la larga relación del poeta con Peter Orlovsky, su compañero de vida y trabajo durante casi cuarenta años.
Provenance
Mary Soyer, daughter of artist, New York; gift 2009 to NPG
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view