Grace Hartigan: The Gift of Attention explores the significant impact mid-century American poets and poetry had on painter Grace Hartigan's early career during the 1950s and 1960s. Through a compelling introduction and three illuminating essays, the authors explore how key literary figures-supporters that included Daisy Aldan, Barbara Guest, James Merrill, Frank O'Hara, and James Schuyler-sparked Hartigan's creativity, providing a fuller examination of the art she created during this time. This book not only spotlights Hartigan within the renowned circle of New York School painters and poets but also highlights the influence of several queer writers whose daring work and lifestyles profoundly shaped Hartigan's outlook on art and life.

Jared Ledesma is curator of 20th-century art and contemporary art, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC. Terence Diggory is emeritus professor of English at Skidmore College. Rachel Blau DuPlessis is professor emerita of English at Temple University. She is a poet and the author of many volumes of essays and criticism. Frances Lazare is an art historian and visiting assistant professor, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA.