Ruth Kligman (January 25, 1930 – March 1, 2010) was an American abstract artist[1] who was romantically involved with two prominent American artists of the mid-20th century, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.[2]
Ruth Kligman | |
|---|---|
 Ruth Kligman by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1972 | |
| Born | January 25, 1930 Newark, New Jersey |
| Died | March 1, 2010 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Art Students League, New School for Social Research, New York University |
| Known for | Painter |
| Movement | Abstract |
Early life and education
editKligman was born to a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey,[1] with ancestors who had come from eastern Europe. Her father was Morris Kligman. Deciding at a young age that she wanted to be an artist, Kligman studied at the Art Students League after moving into New York, as well as the New School for Social Research and New York University.[1]
Career
editPainting
editKligman was an abstract painter, working in New York City.[1] Her works include Joan of Arc and the Light and Deman series. Kligman developed in several directions at different stages in her career, including iconography, gilding, curved canvases, bright primary shapes, and sunset-inspired gradations.
Writing
editIn 1974, Kligman published Love Affair: A Memoir of Jackson Pollock, about her relationship with Pollock.[1][3]
Personal life
editKligman was involved with Pollock in 1956 for a few months before his death.[4] She was 26 and he was 44 when they met at a gallery where she was working. He was struggling with alcoholism. On August 11, 1956, Pollock had been drinking all day before speeding and losing control of the car in which they and Edith Metzger were traveling. Pollock and Metzger died in the crash. Kligman was thrown free and suffered serious injuries.[1] She then became involved for several years, from about 1957 to 1961, with the artist Willem de Kooning. De Kooning named a painting, Ruth's Zowie,[5] for Kligman's exclamation at seeing it.[1]
Artists and photographers featured her in their work, including Irving Penn, Marisol, and Robert Mapplethorpe. She said that she and Andy Warhol had a crush on each other for years.[1] Friendly with Jasper Johns, she continued with her own painting and long shared a studio with Franz Kline on 14th Street in New York.[1] Another source reports she moved into Kline's studio after his death in 1962.[2]
Kligman was married to artist Carlos Sansegundo from the mid-1960s until the late 1970s.[2]
In popular culture
editIn the biographical film Pollock (2000), Ed Harris starred as Pollock, and Jennifer Connelly portrayed Kligman.
Bibliography
edit- Kligman, Ruth (1974). Love Affair: A Memoir of Jackson Pollock. New York City: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 978-0-688-00232-9.
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kennedy, Randy (6 March 2010). "Ruth Kligman, Muse and Artist, Dies at 80". The New York Times. ProQuest 2218970852. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
- ^ a b c Blume, Lesley (22 August 2012). "The Canvas and the Triangle". Vanity Fair. Vol. 54, no. 9 (published September 2012). p. 322. ProQuest 1082330154. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ Engel, Marian (17 March 1974). "Love Affair". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Pollock, De Kooning, Johns, Warhol, Kline – their Muse and Lover". The Art Story: Modern Art Insight. The Art Story Foundation. 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ "Ruth's Zowie". The Willem de Kooning Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 April 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
External links
edit- "Who Was Ruth Kligman?" ARTDEX.
- "Ruth Kligman: The Driver's Seat" Review of Kligman’s book, Love Affair: A Memoir of Jackson Pollock. The Brooklyn Rail.
- "The Canvas and the Triangle" by Lesley M. M. Blume. Vanity Fair, August 22, 2012.
- "The Story of Ruth Kligman, the Woman at the Center of the Jackson Pollock Controversy" by Will Blythe. Elle, November 25, 2013.
- "Ruth Kligman, Muse and Artist, Dies at 80" by Randy Kennedy. New York Times, March 6, 2010.
- Ruth Kligman at IMDb