A Party Worthy of a Pop Pioneer
“I’m 15 months away from being 100, so listen carefully,” said Joan Kron, now 98 years young. “Apparently, you’re all here because you’ve heard about my latest book, The Renegade Housewives of Pop Art: A Memoir of the 1960s, which Suzy Slesin forced me to write. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the book of the year.”
More than 100 friends and admirers gathered to celebrate Joan, crowding into the art-filled triplex of LaVon Kellner. The evening was hosted by her son, Daniel Kron, and her stepson, Jonathan Marder, together with Pointed Leaf Press publisher Suzanne Slesin.
A Homecoming Tied to Lichtenstein
Kron had returned to her native New York for the opening of the Whitney Museum’s Roy Lichtenstein exhibition. The show features Super Sunset, a billboard she commissioned from the artist in 1967, a reminder of how closely her own story is woven into the history of Pop Art.
The Housewives Who Championed Pop Art
In the 1960s, Joan Kron and Audrey Sabol made history by collaborating with an emerging group of artists that included Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, George Segal, Jean Tinguely, and Andy Warhol, among others.
In 1962, Kron and Sabol presented the first group show of Pop Art on the East Coast. They soon went into business together, producing multiples with Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, and Marisol Escobar. Their swan song was the Museum of Merchandise, which featured a storefront by a then-unknown artist named Christo and a provocative product for sale by rising star Andy Warhol.
From Yale to the Newsroom
Joan Kron was born and raised in New York City. She graduated in costume design from the Yale School of Drama (now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale) before moving to Philadelphia. There, as a founding member and head of the YM/YWHA Arts Council, she co-produced several Pop Art exhibitions.
In her 40s, Kron began writing for Philadelphia magazine, New York magazine, and The New York Times. She later joined The Wall Street Journal, where she launched the paper’s fashion beat. She went on to serve as editor-in-chief of Avenue magazine before joining Condé Nast’s Allure, where she created the plastic surgery beat.
A Filmmaker and Author
Kron also produced and directed the award-winning documentary Take My Nose Please! Comediennes and Plastic Surgery. Her earlier books include High-Tech: The Industrial Style and Source Book for the Home, written with Suzanne Slesin (Clarkson Potter, 1978), and Home-Psych: The Social Psychology of Home and Decoration (Clarkson Potter, 1983).
Today she lives in Miami, Florida, and is at work on her second film, Weapon of Beauty: The Cloak and Dagger History of Botox.
Friends Gather to Celebrate
Among the guests who came to toast Joan were Teri Agins and J. Paul Hands, Steven M.L. Aronson, Jeffrey Banks, Bina and Walter Bernard, Myrna Blyth, Michele Oka and Fred Doner, RoseLee Goldberg and Dakota Jackson, Andrew Hawkins, Phoebe Hoban, Jackie Hoffman, Michele Gerber Klein and Leigh Seippel, W. Wilder Knight II, Helen Little, Fern Mallis, Gillian McCain and Jim Marshall, Liane Pei, Virginia and Steve Postrel, Pascale Richard, Jeff Roth, Susan Roy, Dan Shaw, Barbara Tober, Désirée von la Valette, and Saundra Whitney.
Where to Order
The Renegade Housewives of Pop Art, published by Pointed Leaf Press, is available for pre-order at:
www.pointedleafpress.com
