The Painter

Although Ashbery made a fantastically successful career out of poetry, the impact of painting and visual art in his life is not to be underestimated. As a child, Ashbery spent a good deal of time drawing and painting, and his first aspirations were to become a painter. Although the discussion of painting is symbolic of art in all its forms in “The Painter” (including and especially poetry), Ashbery’s dream of becoming a painter infuses the choice with meaning. As an adult, Ashbery financially supported his poetry career with a parallel career in art criticism. Both in New York and France, Ashbery reviewed art shows and exhibitions, gaining a working knowledge of the painting of the day. In fact, Ashbery—along with his close friend Frank O’Hara—have long been considered poets whose work is strongly influenced by painting, both in its textual strategies and underlying theory. While “The Painter” is an early poem of Ashbery’s and preceded much of his work in art criticism and art journalism, it demonstrates the lifelong passion Ashbery had for painting and the visual arts.