The Loft Generation: From the de Koonings to Twombly: Portraits and Sketches, 1942-2011

by Edith Schloss, Mary Venturini (Editor)

A bristling and brilliant memoir of the mid-twentieth-century New York School of painters and their times by the renowned artist and critic Edith Schloss, who, from the early years, was a member of the group that shifted the center of the art world from Paris to New York

The Loft From the de Koonings to Twombly; Portraits and Sketches, 1942–2011 is an invaluable account by an artist at the center of a landmark era in American art. Edith Schloss writes about the painters, poets, and musicians who were part of the postwar movements and about her life as an artist in New York and later in Italy, where she continued to paint and write until her death in 2011.

Schloss was born in Germany and moved to New York City during World War II. She became part of a thriving community of artists and intellectuals that included Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Larry Rivers, John Cage, and Frank O’Hara. She married the photographer and filmmaker Rudy Burckhardt. She was both a working artist and an incisive critic, and was a candid and gimlet-eyed witness of the close-knit community that was redefining the world of art. In Italy she spent time with Giorgio Morandi, Cy Twombly, Meret Oppenheim, and Francesca Woodman.

In The Loft Generation , Schloss creates a rare and irreplaceable up-close record of an era of artistic innovation and the colorful characters who made it happen. Her canny observations are indispensable reading for all critics and researchers of this vital period in American art.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, New York, Art History

336 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2023

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Wish I Liked It More

I felt very detached by this books and didn’t feel engaged by reading. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have much knowledge of the artists before hand. The art is the highlight of the book.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. Edith Schloss, painter and art critic, gives us such a unique insider view of the New York City art scene directly after World War Two. In her loft with husband Rudy Burckhardt, she witnesses the start of such artists as Willem de Kooning, Larry Rivers, John Cage, Frank O’Hara and so many others. We get quick sketches and longer portraits of the men and women who upend Paris to make New York the center of the art world. And what a sharp eye, and tongue, Edith has. And she is just as keen as she relocates to Rome in the sixties and spends time with artists there, most notably Giorgio Morandi. A delightful book.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fascinating memoir. I’d never heard of artist Edith Schloss and was delighted to make her acquaintance in this first-hand account of her life and work amongst many of the most famous American artists of the 20th century. She was friends with so many of them thus making this book an intriguing and riveting insider view of American art and artists, and a candid and honest exploration of her own work. I recommend seeking out the film that was made of her in her apartment in Rome to get to know her even better.

[Philip F Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the immense critical writing on the Abstract Expressionist period, one would think there is few things left to say, yet Edith Schloss provides and a particular and personal perspective that refreshes and extends that writing. A painter herself, as well as the husband of Rudy Burckhardt -- a photographer known for his documentation of the artists and writers of the period (and a lover of Edwin Denby, the acclaimed and astute dance critic and poet of the period), Schloss had the inveterate eye and that allowed her not just to observe, but to hit the nail on the head when it came to these 'portraits' and 'sketches.' Though at times fragmentary, and short, her precise capture of the artists of the period is always illuminating. She writes of De Kooning and Denby the most, as they were the first to enthrall and teach her. As an art critic for Artnews, Schloss learned her trade in the pen, as well as developing her art as a painter. And the New York of the period, comes alive once again in a whole new way. The artists who struggled, the lofts and empty spaces that they inhabited, all the while creating places where, even while poverty-stricken, there was always a place to talk, to share ideas, to drink, to find lovers and friends. Schloss perfectly delineates the commitment that was shared at these beginnings. And even when the big-money came in, and the art carpet-baggers began to see how to to manipulate the next big thing, Schloss also writes about the ones who did not 'sell out.' As much as I though I knew about this period and these artists, I learned deeper understandings of their work. When Schloss later travels and settles in Rome, that whole world of American artists there (the Academy of Rome), become a further focus for her enigmatic eye and words. Wonderful contribution to the period, along such new assessments as Mary Gabriel's 'Ninth Street Women,' -- a book I would suggest anyone to read who enjoys this.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Edith Schloss memoir hits the sweet spot for research and the history of Boho New York of the 1950s - mostly focusing on the visual artists, but also the poets.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading this book La Tour's painting Newborn Child came to mind again and again. It was on the cover of the 1954 Art News Annual, and was a presence on a bookshelf, with several other Art News Annuals, for the entirety of my childhood. Alas, being far more interested in the illustrations in National Geographic, I would have to wait till later in life to take a look.
I finally did in Istanbul. spotting the same La Tour cover at a flea market, I brought it home, knowing by then that many great New York writers and artists contributed to its production, and Edith Schloss was one of them. I wasn't disappointed as the writing was beautiful.
Of course, these comments only provides a reason to read old Art News Annuals, but Schloss, a skill painter and an editor at Art News, was a presence in the loft scene from the 1940s to the early 1960s. This worthy memoir spins tales about a fair number of notables figures. She then gives us the happenings in her second adopted city, Rome, for the 1960s, and 1970. Being Jewish and having escaped the clutches of Nazi Germany, Schloss seems to have been cosmopolitan above all and quite comfortable wherever she landed.
Full of serious fun. the book let's us know who Schloss cared for and who she did not. We get affectionate tales of Wilem and Elaine De Kooning and Fairfield Porter, and discovered important forgotten people like Edward Denby, author of the fabulous, small book of poems, Mediterranean Cities, who had a complex relationship with her husband at the time Rudy Burkhardt. There are also those who she knew in passing like John Ashbery, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and many others.
If you are interested in the New York art scene from the 1940s to the present, this is a can't miss choice. Very enjoyable.

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Loft Generation
From the de Koonings to Twombly: Portraits and Sketches, 1942-2011
by Edith Schloss
Pub Date 16 Nov 2021 |
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Biographies & Memoirs



I am reviewing a copy of The Loft Generation through Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley:



Edith Schloss could not decide if she was a painter who wrote, or a writer she painted. She was an accomplished writer who wrote many art reviews and memoirs about different people and events throughout her life. She also had at least one unpublished novel. When she passed away she left many manuscripts in various stages of completion. The Loft Generation was an early draft.




In The Loft Generation: From the de Koonings to Twombly is a firsthand account by an artist at the center of a landmark era in American art. Edith Schloss writes about the artists, poets, and musicians who were part of the postwar art movements as well as about her life as an artist in America and Later in Italy, where she continued to paint and write until her death in 2011.



Edith Schloss was born in Germany, and moved to New York City during World War II. She soon She became part of a thriving community of artists and intellectuals, from Elaine and Willem de Kooning and Larry Rivers to John Cage and Frank O’Hara. She would marry the photographer and filmmaker Rudy Burckhardt. She was both a working artist and an incisive art critic, and was a candid and gimlet-eyed observer of the close-knit community that was redefining American art.



I give the Loft Generation five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A posthumous memoir of abstract expressionist artist & critic Edith Schloss, compiled by her longtime editor Mary Venturini. In 1942, German-born Schloss (1919–2011) moved to New York with her lover Heinz Lagerhans, also a refugee, to study at the Art Students League. She was soon embedded in the circle of talented artists who inhabited the loft district of lower Manhattan. They gravitated toward the area because rents were low, lofts were spacious and sometimes sunny, and to meet fellow artists such as composers Elliott Carter & John Cage; poets Frank O'Hara & Kenneth Koch; dancers George Balanchine & Merce Cunningham, and many, many others. At the time, most were aspiring rather than acclaimed artists. "In those days," writes Schloss, "nobody was anybody. Friends were friends, and they brought you their pictures." Painter Fairfield Porter, a lifelong friend, introduced Schloss to fellow artists Elaine & Bill de Kooning, who tried to seduce her. From critic Edwin Denby, Schloss learned to "look at the world around you," and "celebrate it the best you can." After the end of her marriage to photographer/film-maker Rudy Burckhardt in the early 1960s, Schloss moved to Italy, where she lived, wrote, & painted for the rest of her long, productive life. Venturini & Schloss' son photographer Jake Burckhardt fashioned the notes into a firsthand account of life among the artists who defined American non-representational art in the postwar era--and of her own growth in the creation of abstract art from "the marvelous movement of the loaded brush, the flow of paint on paint."

[Kidlitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long on gossip, short on theory - Schloss was an eyewitness and participant in much of the art activities during mid-century New York. She apparently knew everyone and went everywhere while trying to paint herself, so there's lots of tart observations to share on the men and women who dominated the downtown scene. Anyone who's interested in the De Koonings (we see Bill in action in all kinds of ways), O'Hara, Burkhardt (to whom Schloss was married for a time), Ashbery, Cage, Cornell etc. should take a dip though the overall impression of most is a shallow one. Schloss was an art critic for money, and found it easy work to perform, though she's short on theory here, long on the incidental. Someone like Fairfield Porter, who hosted Schloss in Maine over long summers and his poet wife Anne, one of her closest friends, remain maddeningly vague as people and artists, though Cornell and Morandi's pieces do stand out. Schloss moved to Italy in the 60s and the book becomes even lighter then, so little does she comment on the political scene - but neither does she on her German-Jewish background, her escape from the Holocaust or anything American outside of her downtown New York existence. Her remembrances were expertly hobbled together by several editors but like Schloss's art, one wishes there was more to it.

[Greg Masters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating reading dusting off the neglect of the past few decades to hear a woman's account of the New York art scene. Plastered in our minds from past accounts as an era of masculine vitality, as the artists in NYC usurped the mojo from Europe, here at last we get a fresh perspective as Schloss writes empathetically about artist friends and their work as it gains notice and prestige. After she moves to Italy, except for chapters on Cy Twombly and young photographer Francesca Woodman, the energy dissipates somewhat.

Lots of details here for anyone interested in the more adventurous art and music scenes of the last half of the 20th and first decade of the 21st centuries.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, engaging book about the period during the '40's - going up to the 70's - when the NY art scene was exploding and changing. Although the author eventually relocates to Italy, much of this chatty well-written book revolves around Schloss' relationship with de Kooning (of whom she was quite fond) and other well-known, and not so well-known painters.

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

As both an artist and writer, Edith Schloss had a lot of connections. Her in-depth observations give the reader insight to the art world during this time period. I enjoyed reading her version of artists I am familiar with.

[Mary Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just amazing. Edith knew so many artists and painters. She was a painter and an art critic herself. Her autobiography weaves the facts and happenings of her life with simple but spot on descriptions of people and artworks. What a talented woman.

[Sarah Shanfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story of a person who observed an amazing time in American art history and made her own history too. Such a good read

[Cody]

Witty, incisive, personal, and full of the "parallel poetry" Schloss's ARTnews editor championed. How refreshing to have a woman's take on the vibrant mid-century art world.

[E Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the personal stories that bring these artists to life.

[Chris Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much about the artists rather than the art - worthwhile nonetheless.

[Jeffrey Bumiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written with lots of insights into some of my very favorite artists. Good stuff.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir told through encounters and friendships with the who’s who of the New York art world.

[Tito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating inside view of abstract expressionist artist. Edith Schloss knew them all and hung out with them.