Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Illustrations
Introduction
The Chelsea Association
The Coast of Bohemia
Four Saints in Three Acts
Howl
Photo Section I
After the Fall
A Strange Dream
The Price
Naked Lunch
Photo Section II
Mahagonny
Epilogue: Second Life
Appendix: Cost Equivalencies
Author’s Note and Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Copyright © 2013 by Sherill Tippins
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.
www.hmhco.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Tippins, Sherill.
Inside the Dream Palace : the life and times of New York’s legendary Chelsea Hotel / Sherill Tippins.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-618-72634-9 (hardback)
1. Chelsea Hotel—History. 2. Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)—Intellectual life. 3. Chelsea Hotel—Biography. 4. Arts, American—New York (State)—New York—History. 5. Artists—New York (State)—New York—Biography. 6. Eccentrics and eccentricities—New York (State)—New York—Biography. 7. Apartment dwellers—New York (State)— New York—Biography. I. Title.
TX941.C44T57 2013
647.94097471—dc23 2013026747
eISBN 978-0-544-00306-4
v1.1213
The author is grateful to the following publishers, individuals, and literary agents for permission to reprint from previously copyright materials:
Selections from the unpublished correspondence of Jane Bowles, Virgil Thomson Papers, Gilmore Music Library, Yale University. Copyright © 1940 by Jane Bowles, used by permission of The Wylie Agency LLC. Selections from “Risky Behavior: Sex, Gangsters and Deception in the Time of ‘Groovy,’” by Shaun Costello, © Shaun Costello. Printed by permission of the author. An excerpt from the poem “Cockchafer,” by Isabella Gardner, from The Collected Poems of Isabella Gardner, copyright © 1987 by the Estate of Isabella Gardner. Reprinted with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of BOA Editions Ltd., www.boaeditions.org. An excerpt from the poem “Like—This Is What I Meant!” by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), from The Avant-Garde Today: An International Anthology (University of Illinois Press). Reprinted by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. Copyright by Amiri Baraka. Complete lines (3) and fragments (17) from throughout the poem “Howl,” from Collected Poems, 1947–1997 by Allen Ginsberg. Copyright © 1955 by Allen Ginsberg. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Selections from the unpublished correspondence of Allen Ginsberg, the Allen Ginsberg Collection, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, copyright © by Allen Ginsberg, used by permission of The Wylie Agency LLC. Selections from Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters, by Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, edited by Bill Morgan and David Stanford, copyright © 2010 by John Sampas, Literary Representative for the Estate of Jack Kerouac. © 2010 by The Allen Ginsberg Trust. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Selections from Edgar Lee Masters’s unpublished correspondence, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin. With the permission of Hilary Masters. Selections from Edgar Lee Masters’s Spoon River Anthology, Dover Publications, Inc. With the permission of Hilary Masters. Excerpts from the poem “The Hotel Chelsea,” by Edgar Lee Masters. With the permission of Hilary Masters. Selections from Gertrude Stein’s Four Saints in Three Acts (Nonesuch), The Mother of Us All (New World Records), and Tender Buttons (NuVision Publications), with permission from the David Higham Agency.
For
the denizens of the Chelsea,
past, present, future
Illustrations
[>] The Chelsea Association Building, 1884. “The Chelsea: Home-Club Apartments” (brochure), Hubert, Pirsson and Co., Architects, 1884, Philip G. Hubert Archives, Cornelia Frohman Santomenna
[>] “Who Is Ingersoll’s Co?” Thomas Nast cartoon, Harper’s Weekly, August 19, 1871, Courtesy of HarpWeek, LLC
[>] Philip Gengembre Hubert with his grandson Louis Henry Frohman. Philip G. Hubert Archives, Cornelia Frohman Santomenna
[>] Floor plan, Chelsea Association Building. “The Chelsea: Home-Club Apartments” (brochure), Hubert, Pirsson and Co., Architects, 1884, Philip G. Hubert Archives, Cornelia Frohman Santomenna
[>] John Francis Murphy, circa 1890. Napoleon Sarony, photographer, Emerson Crosby Kelly research material relating to J. Francis Murphy, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
[>] Adah Clifford Smith Murphy, circa 1890. Photographer unknown. Emerson Crosby Kelly research material relating to J. Francis Murphy, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
[>] Childe Hassam. Member of International Jury of Award, Carnegie Institute, 1904, E. S. Bennett, photographer. Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. Photograph © 2012 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
[>] William Dean Howells. Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations
[>] Sunset, West Twenty-Third Street by John Sloan. Oil on canvas, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, 25th Anniversary Purchase, 1957.15. With the permission of Kraushaar Galleries
[>] Arthur B. Davies in his studio, 1907. Photograph by Gertrude Käsebier, courtesy Encore Editions
[>] O. Henry, 1909. Prints and Photographs Collection, CN01058, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin
[>] John Sloan in his Chelsea studio, circa 1948. Photograph by Berenice Abbott (1898–1991). John Sloan Manuscript Collection, Delaware Art Museum. Gift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1978. © Berenice Abbott/Commerce Graphics
[>] Edgar Lee Masters at the Chelsea, circa 1936. Photograph by Alice Davis, Masters-Davis Collection, 1928–1978, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. With the permission of Robert Zahn
[>] Thomas Wolfe. Photographer unknown. The Wilson Special Collections Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
[>] Sunbathers on the Roof by John Sloan. Etching, 1941. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY. With the permission of Kraushaar Galleries
[>] Dylan Thomas in New York, circa 1950. Hulton Archive/Staff, Hulton Archive, Getty Images
[>] Jack Kerouac in New York, 1953. © Allen Ginsberg/CORBIS
[>] Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Photography Collection, Tamiment Library, New York University. Photograph by Mildred Grossman. Courtesy of the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
[>] Katherine Dunham. Photograph by Ron Laytner
[>] Brendan Behan in his Chelsea Hotel room. Photograph by Rae Jeffs
[>] Ray Johnson with python in George Kleinsinger’s penthouse-jungle. Photograph by Fred W. McDarrah. Copyright © Estate of Fred W. McDarrah, all rights reserved
[
>] Dinner party in Virgil Thomson’s suite. Photograph by Dominique Nabokov, © Dominique Nabokov
[>] Arthur Miller and cast read After the Fall. Inge Morath, © Inge Morath Foundation, Magnum Photos
[>] The Chelsea Hotel. Photograph by Enrico Ferorelli, © Ferorelli 2013
[>] Stanley and David Bard. Photograph by Steve Schapiro, © Steve Schapiro, courtesy of Michele Bard Grabell
[>] Christo and Jeanne-Claude in their Chelsea Hotel room, 1964. Photo by Ugo Mulas, © Ugo Mulas Estate, all rights reserved
[>] Joseph Gross and Rebecca Miller. Inge Morath, © Inge Morath Foundation, Magnum Photos
[>] Larry Rivers paints Moon Man and Moon Lady. Basil Langton, Getty Images
[>] Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. Rocket Publishing/Contributor, SSPL via Getty Images
[>] Back table at El Quijote restaurant, New York, winter 1964–1965. Photograph by David McCabe
[>] Edie Sedgwick’s screen test. Photograph by Billy Name, © Billy Name
[>] Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg, 1965. Photograph by Dale Smith, © 1965, 2013 Dale Smith. All rights reserved
[>] Harry Smith, circa 1970. Photograph by John Palmer, courtesy Harry Smith Archives
[>] Brion Gysin and William Burroughs with the Dream Machine. Photograph by Charles Gatewood. © Charles Gatewood
[>] Andy Warhol and Mario Montez on the set of Chelsea Girls. Santi Visalli Inc., Archive Photos, Getty Images
[>] Mary Woronov in Chelsea Girls. Photograph by Billy Name, © Billy Name
[>] Brigid Berlin. Photograph by Billy Name, © Billy Name
[>] Chelsea Girls poster. © Alan Aldridge. Courtesy of Alan Aldridge
[>] Janis Joplin on the Chelsea’s roof, June 1970. Photograph by David Gahr. Estate of David Gahr, Premium Archive, Getty Images
[>] Leonard Cohen, 1974. Michael Putland, Putland Archive, Getty Images
[>] Sam Shepard and Patti Smith perform Cowboy Mouth. Photograph by Gerard Malanga, © Gerard Malanga
[>] Viva and Alexandra Auder, circa 1972. Photograph by Gerard Malanga, © Gerard Malanga
[>] Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern, 1969. Photograph by Fred W. McDarrah. Copyright © Estate of Fred W. McDarrah, all rights reserved
[>] Vali Myers. Photograph by Eva Collins
[>] Shirley Clarke on the roof of the Chelsea, 1973. Photograph by Peter Angelo Simon, © Peter Angelo Simon 1973/2013
[>] Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious. Photograph by Steve Emberton, Camera Press London
[>] Spungen’s body is removed from the Chelsea. Photograph by Hal Goldenberg, Associated Press
[>] Dance of the Spirits, with choreographer Merle Lister and dancer Gina Lior. Photograph by Enrico Ferorelli, © Ferorelli 2013
[>] Dee Dee Ramone. Photograph by Keith Green, © Keith Green. All rights reserved
[>] Alphaeus Cole at age 108. Photograph by Enrico Ferorelli, © Ferorelli 2013
[>] The Eye on the Roof, 2012. Photograph by Rita Barros, © Rita Barros
Introduction
Life all around me here in the village:
Tragedy, comedy, valor and truth,
Courage, constancy, heroism, failure—
All in the loom, and oh what patterns!
—EDGAR LEE MASTERS, Spoon River Anthology
It’s a sad irony of New York life that over time, the fabled buildings and institutions that first attract us to the city fade into invisibility. The Empire State Building loses its glamour amid the noise and dust of a midsummer traffic jam. Even the grand old Dakota, former home of John Lennon, becomes just another apartment building when you jog past it every day. Life happens, and, gradually, the grid of historic sites gives way to your own potent landmarks: the office building where you landed your first job, the restaurant where your lover proposed, the park where you were mugged. The young saplings obscure the old-growth trees, and the monuments are forgotten.
For me and, possibly, many other New Yorkers, this has been the case for the Chelsea Hotel. Since 1884, the mammoth red-brick edifice on West Twenty-Third Street has sheltered some of the most dynamic, innovative artists the United States has produced. The list of creative residents has grown so lengthy that it’s hard to take in: the writers Thomas Wolfe, Mary McCarthy, Arthur C. Clarke, Terry Southern, Jim Carroll, Sam Shepard, and Joseph O’Neill; the artists John Sloan, Jackson Pollock, Larry Rivers, Julian Schnabel, and Francesco Clemente; filmmakers Robert Flaherty, Richard Leacock, Jonas Mekas, Miloš Forman, and Shirley Clarke; actors Edie Sedgwick, Dennis Hopper, Holly Woodlawn, Viva, and Ethan Hawke; and a superabundance of musicians ranging from Virgil Thomson to Bob Dylan and from Janis Joplin to Patti Smith to Dee Dee Ramone.
At the Chelsea, Arthur Miller wrote his Marilyn Monroe play, After the Fall, a short stroll from the rooms where Andy Warhol later shot scenes for Chelsea Girls. Mark Twain entertained fellow diners with tidbits from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in the same room where Richard Bernstein produced movie-star portraits for the cover of Interview. In rooms where students of Antonín Dvořák had once struggled to imagine a plausibly indigenous music for America, Bob Dylan jotted down lyrics for Blonde on Blonde. In the Chelsea’s art studios, American impressionists gave way to urban realists, the realists to abstract expressionists, and the expressionists to pop artists, avant-garde filmmakers, performance artists, and video experimenters. As the Chelsea’s reputation spread, artists, writers, and social activists from around the world—Dylan Thomas, Christo, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Brendan Behan, Abdullah Ibrahim, and many others—helped turn the Chelsea into the largest and longest-lived creative community in the world.
The Chelsea Association Building began its life as one of the city’s first great apartment buildings—a cooperative club set in the middle of what was then the city’s mass-transit crossroads and its center for the arts—and became a residential hotel shortly after the turn of the century. Near the end of the Depression, when it succumbed to bankruptcy, the hotel was bought by a syndicate of arts-friendly Hungarian émigrés and managed by them for nearly seventy years. Over the decades, the genteel home for artists grew increasingly shabby as etched-glass panels were broken, murals painted over, and parquet floors pulled up so the building’s original eighty apartments could be partitioned into more than three hundred rooms and suites. In 1966, when the hotel was granted official city-landmark status—over strident objections by some neighboring business owners, who thought it would be better to raze the bohemian enclave—some of the suites retained their late-Victorian grandeur. But the décor of most leaned, in Arthur Miller’s words, more toward “Guatemalan maybe, or outer Queens.” Then the seventies arrived, with cockroaches and bedbugs, junkies and graffiti. By the time Sid Vicious’s partner, Nancy Spungen, was found stabbed to death in the bathroom of their first-floor room, many New Yorkers were ready to see the Chelsea die.
Having moved to the city a few weeks before Spungen’s murder, in 1978, I, too, was quick to dismiss the Chelsea as outside the mainstream of city life. Like many new arrivals, I eventually made my way to the lobby to take a look at the art by Larry Rivers and Arman and scope out the equally intriguing assortment of individuals lounging in overstuffed armchairs before the fireplace. Climbing the skylighted bronzed-iron staircase, exchanging nods with passing residents, I, too, experienced the commonly reported sense of the uncanny—a kind of residual energy left behind by past generations or, somehow, generated by the building itself.
But then I forgot about the Chelsea as my own personal landmarks began to emerge. On the rare occasions when I passed the hotel, I no longer glanced through its scratched-glass doors to see who was inside. Attending parties there now and then, I paid more attention to the nonresidents I knew than to the hotel’s denizens or its unique atmosphere. I did not pause to consider the connections between that architectural relic on Twenty-Third Street and Jackson Pollock’s paintings at the Museum of Modern Art, Virgil Thomson’s operas at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Shirley Clarke’s films at
the Anthology Film Archives, or the Broadway revivals of Arthur Miller’s plays. If I noticed the hotel owners’ comments occasionally quoted in the Times—that the Hotel Chelsea represented something vital to the life of the city—those assertions paled against the essayist Sarah Vowell’s more entertaining portrayal of the building as a headquarters for weirdos—all those New York “junkies . . . geniuses . . . men in eye makeup, yearning to lay low.”
Then, one day in 2005, my view began to change. I was lunching with a new acquaintance, Gavin Henderson, the visiting director of London’s Trinity College of Music, and I happened to ask where he was staying while in New York. He responded, “Where I always stay—the Chelsea Hotel.” I laughed, surprised that someone so dapper and distinguished would choose such down-at-heel digs. He responded with great conviction that in fact there was no more welcoming home in New York, as he had learned from his first visits as a young artist in the 1960s, when a chance meeting with the composer Virgil Thomson had opened up the city to him and ultimately influenced the shape of his career. He named his first son after Thomson, and as his family grew, they all came to consider the Chelsea their second home. Even his upright eighty-year-old mother from Brighton, initially warned off the place, fell so fully in love with the Chelsea’s homelike atmosphere that she insisted that was where she wished to go to die.
“In a place without room service?” I asked.
He waved away the question. The Chelsea wasn’t about amenities. It was about people. If I ever stayed there myself, he said, I would understand. Actually, he added—knowing I’d recently finished a book about a creative community in New York—someone should write a history of that hotel.
I said, “Sure,” but shrugged off the suggestion. Still, something must have registered, because a short time later, experimenting with a new search engine at the New York Public Library, I decided to plug in the street address of the Chelsea Hotel.
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