patti's connections
Arthur Rimbaud
For 20th century authors and musicians, Rimbaud's appeal is rooted in his rebellious, rugged, mysterious persona and his turbulent relationship with older poet Paul Verlaine. Artists like Patti resonated with his indifference towards societal norms, his poetry's noncompliance to orthodox structures, vocabulary, and styles in pursuit of "a new poetic language," and his abrupt desertion of poetry and France to travel across the world and end up a trader, explorer, and arms dealer in Africa.[1] Patti was drawn to "his haughty gaze," deciding to steal Les Illuminations from a bus depot in Philadelphia at the age of sixteen, and she "embraced him as compatriot, kin, and even secret love."[2] Other figures influenced by Rimbaud, shown in the visualization above, include Jean Cocteau, Jim Morrison, Richard Hell, and Kurt Cobain.
Arthur Rimbaud, age 17
[1] "Arthur Rimbaud," Poetry Foundation, Accessed 18 November 2019.
[2] Smith, Patti. Just Kids (Esso, 2010). Accessed 7 November 2018.
The Chelsea Hotel, Max's Kansas City, and the Interconnectedness of New York City
Hotel Chelsea, located between Seventh and Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan, was constructed in 1884 and designated as a hotel in 1905. The Chelsea is famous for its high-profile artistic residents, many of whom were long-term residents at the hotel. When Patti and Robert moved into room 1017, they joined the ranks of Dylan Thomas, Tennessee Williams, Jack Kerouac, and Andy Warhol, as well as New York School-associated James Schuyler, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock. With its inescapably dense artistic atmosphere, living in the Chelsea allowed Patti and Robert to participate in “an open market, everyone with something of himself to sell” (131). They met artists in every line of work at the hotel, some of who would catalyze cultural movements and trends. Patti reminisced on “this place, its shabby elegance, and the history it held so possessively” in her memoir Just Kids (139). She asserted that dwelling “in this eccentric and damned hotel provided a sense of security as well as a stellar education” through her friendships with mentors and Chelsea frequenters Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and William S. Burroughs (123). She refers to the Chelsea as her “new university,” accessing the New York School-frequented St. Mark’s Poetry Project through her friendship with Corso.
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Exterior of the Chelsea Hotel (1971)
Exterior of Max's Kansas City (1976)
Patti with Eric Andersen at the Chelsea (1971)
Robert’s yearning to break into the world and circles of Andy Warhol led to Patti and Robert frequenting Max’s Kansas City beginning in 1969, a restaurant and nightclub inhabited by Warhol superstars and artists of the New York School before them such as Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Willem de Kooning, and René Ricard. Patti described it as the “social hub of the subterranean universe, when Andy Warhol passively ruled over the round table” (148). As it was Robert’s desire to join the group that would gather there, she saw it as a “Robert-related routine,” but later embraced Max’s and those they met there (149). Danny Fields eventually invited Robert and Patti to the round table, where they met Warhol superstars like Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, and Jackie Curtis. It was Jackie Curtis who gave Patti her first role in a play, which led to Tony Ingrassia enlisting her for a role in his play Island, of which Andy Warhol and Tennessee Williams were in attendance as audience members. Patti reflected on her experience in Island and in Jackie Curtis’s play Femme Fatale as helping her realize she “had a knack for performing” (173).
Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, and Bibi Hanson at Max's
The people Patti and Robert were able to meet and even befriend demonstrate how simply entering New York put Patti and Robert in the presence of greats. New York City was a smaller world in the late 60’s and early 70’s, and this world was the same for all young artists, including painters, writers, musicians, and actors. Artists of these varying disciplines would collaborate and draw inspiration from one another just by being in the vicinity of each other, a prime example being the Chelsea. People associated with the Chelsea, Max’s Kansas City, and The Factory, Andy Warhol’s loft, and their status as friends and contemporaries of Patti and Robert or inspirations are visible in the visualization. The interchanging of ideas, work, and methods was constant there, where the inhabitant next door could be Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, or Janis Joplin. This environment of constant collaboration is reminiscent of the Second Generation New York Schools circles, where authors like Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett often took fragments from the work of their peers and collaged these fragments with their own poetic creations. Patti and Robert’s favorite places in New York and closest friends from Pratt, the Chelsea, and Max’s were involved in a variety of movements highlighted in the visualization above, including pop art, Beat culture, abstract expressionism, punk rock, rock and roll, and the unique signatures of the New York School. The crossover character of the art and poetry scene and the myriad of influences through the Chelsea, Max’s, and other New York locales like The Factory helped to facilitate Patti’s transition from straightforward sketching and poetry to spoken word and setting her poetry to guitar chords.
Patti and the Chelsea
Quotes and photos from Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco, 2010).