Love Affair

Love Affair, Ruth Kligman’s book about her relationship with Jackson Pollock, moves through Andy Warhol’s diary from a possible film project to an object of persistent skepticism. Warhol first entertained producing an adaptation with Jack Nicholson, but his reading of the book shaped both his doubts about the project and his later refusal to help Kligman meet Nicholson.

The book and a possible film

Warhol read Love Affair on December 12, 1976, and judged it poor, wondering whether a film could be made without turning it into an entirely new story. Kligman wanted him to produce an adaptation and Nicholson to star. The diary records the proposal as a practical possibility, but also makes clear that Warhol was already unconvinced by the book itself.

Warhol’s reading of the Pollock story

A passage in the book describes Kligman leaving Pollock and going as far away as possible. Warhol tested that account against its geography: Kligman had gone to Sag Harbor while Pollock lived in Springs, a distance he put at about six miles. He also doubted the book’s account of Pollock discovering where she was, speculating that she might have shared her number with people who could pass it on. These are Warhol’s skeptical interpretations of Kligman’s narrative, not independently established facts about what happened.

The book remained in his hands beyond that first reading. While in Kuwait, after a dinner with the American ambassador, Warhol read it again and dwelled on its account of Kligman driving with Pollock shortly before he hit a pole. He then gave the book to Fred Hughes to read, extending its circulation within Warhol’s circle.

From adaptation to refusal

When Kligman called later, Warhol told her he was seeing Nicholson and would discuss the film with him. She asked Warhol to take her to meet the actor; he refused, explaining in his diary that reading her book had made him unwilling to take her anywhere. His response was not simply a rejection of the proposed film: the book had altered his willingness to act as Kligman’s intermediary.

Nicholson soon stopped by Warhol’s table, where Warhol mentioned that he intended to send him Kligman’s book. Nicholson said Kligman had already called him. The episode closes the small chain of proposed introductions without establishing whether the film was ever made: the book had prompted Warhol’s interest in a project, his critical reading, and finally a refusal, while Nicholson was already in contact with its author.