Goodbye to Tenth Street

Goodbye to Tenth Street is the first novel written by Irving Sandler, one of America’s finest and most acclaimed art critics. Sandler vividly portrays the New York art world from the death of Jackson Pollock in 1956 to the emergence of Andy Warhol in 1962. Goodbye to Tenth Street explores the business and the culture of Abstract Expressionism, including the soul-searching quest for artistic authenticity, the alcohol, the sex, and the intense rivalries among its proponents. Based on Sandler’s personal experiences, the art world of his invention brings to life a tight-knit but deeply competitive community of artists, critics, curators, and gallery owners, where connections are forged and betrayed, ideologies clash, and relationships blossom and implode with dizzying speed. Several of the characters are well known personalities—Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, et al.—and others hint at real people or are amalgams of art world denizens that may be identified by the astute reader. Art theory and art history are interwoven throughout the plot of this crisp and sparkling narrative. Sandler paints a dynamic portrait of the Abstract Expressionists and their visual breakthroughs and makes us ponder the pursuit for meaning, emotional honesty, and objectivity via artistic expression. With the arrival of Pop Art as the newest avant-garde, where commercialism supplants emotional expression, Sandler reveals the changing attitudes in the art world, the conflict between the older and younger generation of artists, and the necessity of these periodic upheavals in keeping art relevant to our times. Written from the perspective of a contemporary, Sandler gives a “behind-the-scenes” look at the personalities and events of this important period in American art history.