Alloway's life was intellectually rich but financially impoverished—his pay as part-time Assistant Director was meagre and was only modestly supplemented by contributions to Art News and Review. He had been unsuccessful in applications for gallery jobs at the National, Tate, Birmingham, and Leeds, and had even applied for a job in television to increase his income. He still maintained a commitment to poetry and, in 1953, the poet, novelist, and art supporter Osbert Sitwell gave him financial support for a year. This enabled Alloway to rent a bed-sit in the London suburb of Blackheath, and meant that he was able to spend more time with Sylvia Sleigh. 1953 was also the year of his first catalogue introduction—a short foreword to an exhibition at the Kensington Art Gallery by Sleigh. Ever aware of possible accusations of nepotism, Alloway seldom wrote about Sleigh during their thirty-six-year marriage even though she was centrally involved in New York feminist art in the 1970s.

But his abilities were being recognized in 1953, a fact demonstrated by the offer of work by the New York-based Art News. Alloway, recommended by Clement Greenberg whom he met occasionally on his frequent trips to Europe, became London's correspondent for the magazine in December that year, writing a monthly report on exhibitions or visiting artists in their studios prior to their exhibitions in order to meet the submission deadlines. These contributions continued until December 1957. As well as recognition of his status as a critic, it also offered a much-needed source of income: “The 75 dollars a month that I earned from Art News [was] my salvation when I worked at the ICA for 10 pounds a week.” In addition, Alloway also published several articles in Art News, the first of which was “Britain's New Iron Age,” in the summer 1953 edition. It is a significant article because Alloway both defines a new tendency in British sculpture, and also identifies with it. The main sculptors that he discusses are Robert Adams, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Turnbull, Reg Butler, and Lynn Chadwick. Their number added up to a hopeful and, Alloway thought, positive and optimistic development. A key difference between generations was to do with materials: the pre-War generation's love of stone and wood was replaced by the new sculptors’ use of iron, plaster, and wax.