Lippard muses on her early years in New York City, from discovering a love of art writing to encountering Marcel Duchamp when she worked at MoMA’s library.
Newly separated from an Italian prince, the American-born painter-poet Kay Sage (1898–1963) snuck into the studio of the surrealist Kurt Seligmann—enticed by a stack of paintings visible from the hallway of the Hotel Grosvenor in Paris. Later that summer, at Seligmann’s urging, she visited Galerie Charpentier and saw a painting titled Je vous attends (I am waiting for you) (1934)—the first she would glimpse of her future husband, Yves Tanguy (1900–55). The chance encounter proved transformative: already a student of landscape painting, she resolved to move to Paris from Italy and earn her place among the ranks of the Surrealists. In 1938, the seemingly predestined couple met and remained constant companions until Tanguy’s death in 1955.
He is the author of several books: among the best known is 'Merry Sydney' (1988), which has been taught at all three tiers of Australian Education and the author has been repeatedly honoured with grants from the Australian Council of Arts.