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Ninth Street Women

Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art

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Ninth Street Women

By: Mary Gabriel
Narrated by: Lisa Stathoplos
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About this listen

 Five women revolutionize the modern art world in postwar America in this "gratifying, generous, and lush" true story from a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist (Jennifer Szalai, New York Times).

Set amid the most turbulent social and political period of modern times, Ninth Street Women is the impassioned, wild, sometimes tragic, always exhilarating chronicle of five women who dared to enter the male-dominated world of twentieth-century abstract painting -- not as muses but as artists. From their cold-water lofts, where they worked, drank, fought, and loved, these pioneers burst open the door to the art world for themselves and countless others to come.

Gutsy and indomitable, Lee Krasner was a hell-raising leader among artists long before she became part of the modern art world's first celebrity couple by marrying Jackson Pollock. Elaine de Kooning, whose brilliant mind and peerless charm made her the emotional center of the New York School, used her work and words to build a bridge between the avant-garde and a public that scorned abstract art as a hoax. Grace Hartigan fearlessly abandoned life as a New Jersey housewife and mother to achieve stardom as one of the boldest painters of her generation. Joan Mitchell, whose notoriously tough exterior shielded a vulnerable artist within, escaped a privileged but emotionally damaging Chicago childhood to translate her fierce vision into magnificent canvases. And Helen Frankenthaler, the beautiful daughter of a prominent New York family, chose the difficult path of the creative life.

Her gamble paid off: At twenty-three she created a work so original it launched a new school of painting. These women changed American art and society, tearing up the prevailing social code and replacing it with a doctrine of liberation. In Ninth Street Women, acclaimed author Mary Gabriel tells a remarkable and inspiring story of the power of art and artists in shaping not just postwar America but the future. Art Women Funny Art Biography

Critic Reviews

"A gorgeous and unsettling narrative...Ninth Street Women is supremely gratifying, generous, and lush but also tough and precise -- in other words, as complicated and capacious as the lives it depicts...It's as if once Gabriel got started, the canvas before her opened up new vistas. We should be grateful she yielded to its possibilities."—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times
"Ninth Street Women is like a great, sprawling Russian novel, filled with memorable characters and sharply etched scenes. It's no mean feat to breathe life into five very different and very brave women, none of whom gave a whit about conventional mores. But Ms. Gabriel fleshes out her portraits with intimate details, astute analyses of the art and good old-fashioned storytelling."—Ann Landi, Wall Street Journal
"Ninth Street Women is a must read...Gabriel seamlessly weaves the intimate and the public, the lives and the art, making us feel we were there...It is a story that is a part of the American story, told here in vivid, meaningful detail, an absolutely pivotal text."—Margaret Randall, Women's Review of Books
"Gabriel's fascinating group portrait shimmers with vivid personal detail...She traces their interwoven paths from studio to Cedar Bar to the Eight Street loft known as the Club...Over time, Willem de Kooning outshone Elaine; Jackson Pollock eclipsed Krasner. Key contributions were erased...Gabriel makes sure these major artists who have been written out of history are not forgotten."—Jane Ciabattari, BBC.com
"Masterful. Mixing critical insight with juicy storytelling, Mary Gabriel brings five brilliant female painters to the fore of the art revolution that cut a wide swath in postwar America."—Patricia Albers, author of Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter
"Gripping and enthralling, Mary Gabriel made me share every turbulent moment of these remarkable women's lives. A magisterial reference, this book will be the definitive text for years to come. It is also the most devastatingly accurate portrayal of five women who had the temerity to call themselves artists in the male-dominated twentieth century."—Deirdre Bair, author of Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend
"I loved every page of this necessary book. At last we see such once-sidelined artists as Joan Mitchell and Elaine de Kooning in depth, and both the telling gossip of their lives and the brave authenticity of their work are thrilling. Mary Gabriel restores the humanist ambition at the core of all the New York painters of this era, whether male or female--the boldness of their risky lives and the seriousness of their noble enterprise."—Brad Gooch, author of Rumi's Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love
All stars
Most relevant
A fascinating insight into New York in the fifties, the abstract expressionist movement and the intertwining lives of gutsy, passionate artists, who flew in the face of convention to achieve their dreams. I moved back and forth between the audio and hard copy book and eventually just found myself listening to the audio while googling paintings because I grew to love the narrator’s voice. The stories are engaging and easy to listen to and follow over time. I uncovered many books and paintings to research, gained a deeper understanding of the movement and had a break through with my own art process towards the latter half of the book. Am sure I will revisit this book over and over. Highly recommend to anyone interested in art and the artists struggle to negotiate the demands of life, art making and social expectations.

Brilliant

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Normally I am hesitant when the world ‘woman’ is in the title. It can lead to a bit of a rant. But this exceptional read opens the doors to a painters world. Being both a painter and a woman, Gabriel takes you into a world that is as energetic, layered and dramatic as the works that were produced in that era. She illustrates the hurdles many female artists had to jump for recognition and support. She provides an intimate insight into these artists and what it took to maintain your passion and perseverance to create. I can only imagine that writing this must have taken the same focus. It is a credit to the author and like the artworks created in their time, it is a formidable read that every artist, gallery owner and all those who love to create should hold a front row spot on the book shelf.

Not just a woman’s world

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Not just about artists, the book is a fabulous insight into the world at large in one of the most exciting art periods in American history

A snapshot of mid century New York

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There’s so much to like about this book. I found it so illuminating to hear the story of these impactful artists who paved the way for us all. Mary Gabriel spent 20 years researching and writing this book… it shows in the depth and care of the final series of stories. If you’re after a light, short read, this one isn’t for you!

A must read for any artist or curious creative

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A profoundly important book not only about the abstract expressionist women and men of the time but a detailed and interesting historical lead in to the 50s and how this influenced the rise of the abstract expressionism. This book discussing the mid 20th century has helped me have an understanding of where I fit in the history of art and thereby grounding me. I have a whole new appreciation for 20thC history and the impact it on us in modern times.

Only the dedicated will finish

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A cloying narration, at times unbearable but I got to the end of it. Honestly, It was really hard to like any of these characters from this period. Sorry, but it was hard not to feel that they possess far more narcissism than talent. They seemed desperate for attention but in retrospection, much of their work seems uninteresting, and without a legacy to stand upon today. Philip Guston comes out a hero though, thankfully.

A gang of desperate narcissists

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