This painting, titled Katie in an Armchair, is a Fairfield Porter work from 1954. Although we've discussed that the New York School was heavily influenced by abstract expressionist art, it is still notable that there were many still life portraits still produced, and perhaps these still life portraits reflect as much as the more abstract works. If we take a look at the picture, we see that Katie, the subject, is staring into the distance. She is observing what is outside of her surroundings, as she does not gaze at the painter, or the chair in which she sits. Much like the gaze of this young girl, poets find inspiration in observing the outside world in order to reflect inward. Although the Confessional Poets concerned more on internal affairs, the New York School observed the urban setting in which they lived.
Although the re-sizing of this picture produced a less appealing quality, I found it important to study Katie's face in relation to poetic inspiration. The first thing that I thought about when I saw the picture is that she doesn't look quite human. I hope I'm not being too hard on Porter, but I believe this could be intentional, as writers and artists possess a certain "queer" quality that sets them above the folds of nominal society. They are separated from society, yet they observe it with more detail than for example, the average businessman.
Although Katie is a small girl, it seems as if she is engulfed by her surroundings. The chair is much more massive than she is, yet she is still the focus of the painting. Perhaps this could inspire the prevailing humanity over material objects in a poet's work. According to Wordsworth, it is impossible to write poetry without emotion, as he claimed it was the "spontaneous overflow of emotions." Whether you agree completely or not with that assessment of poetry, it is undeniable that poetry reflects the courses of life, even as inanimate objects overpower man's size.
