An artistic take on a portrait of beatnik poet Philip Whalen (Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, Monday in the evening, 21, VIII, 61, ASL 811.54 W553mo)

The Beat Movement began in the 1940s and 1950s, primarily among middle and upper class youth. Following the end of World War II, teenagers and young adults of the time began to reject the materialism of their society. Many dropped out of mainstream life to become beatniks, and rebel against the expectations of their world. Instead of materialism, they clung to authenticity. To combat the traditions and normalities of their society, they strove to do the unexpected. Beatniks made use of the shock factor, by doing and presenting things that broke from the wholesome ideology of the squeaky-clean post-World War II era. Youth who had been well-educated chose to forgo college education and careers in favor of traveling the country. Poetry and art became more abstract to challenge the ideals of beauty and the expectation of what success was. Everything the beatniks did spoke in opposition to the superficiality of society.