PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF KATHARINE 'KITTY' CHURCH R.B. KITAJ, R.A. (1932-2007) Robert Duncan signed and numbered Kitaj 17/50 (lower right) etching image: 15.4 x 15.4 cm (6 x 6 in) Kitty was quite fond of Kitaj's work. She even named one of her cats after him. American West Coast poet Robert Duncan (1919-1988) studied and later lectured at Black Mountain College, North Carolina. A leading light among the so called San Francisco Renaissance poets which also included Lawrence Ferlinghetti, he was associated with the Beat writers, notably Allen Ginsburg. An early advocate of gay civil rights, and one of the first public figures to publicly admit his homosexuality, his verse publications included The Opening of the Field (1960), Roots and Branches (1964), and Bending the Bow (1968). Another example of the present work from the same edition is in Tate Britain.