Customer Reviews

Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction (Whitney Museum of American Art)

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This catalogue accompanies the current exhibition held at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York and is definitely a groundbreaking publication. If you thought, as I confess I did, that Georgia O'Keeffe was merely a decorative painter of flowers with a sexual undertone to her paintings, well you should revise your judgment, go and see the exhibition and buy the book. It shows what the artist actually was: a master of color and a pioneer of abstraction who had few equals at the time in the United States. The book, while stressing her relationship with gallery-owner and pioneer of modern art Alfred Stieglitz (through his gallery 291 on 5th avenue in NYC), concentrates on her early and mysterious abstractions (some works, such as charcoal drawings of 1915-1916,are variations on black, gray and white, which might be said to herald Jasper Johns's much later gray studies)with a sensible text and high-quality illustrations. There are even some genuine discoveries, such as O'Keeffe's rare abstract sculptures.

Highly recommended.

I have enjoyed Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings and drawings since I found a discount large format art book with her art in the 1980s. This book is expertly printed on heavy paper which shows her images well and the signatures are tight yet easy to open which indicates to me that this book will last for years in good condition.

I enjoyed reading the captions informational background on the paintings and drawings. I even found the articles that i sampled to be interesting and informative which I cannot say for some of the art books I've looked at over the years. I am an aspiring painter and photographer but I find a lot of art theory difficult to read. I haven't read through any of the articles in this book but I have skimmed through enough that I am planning to go back to the text when I have more time to see what I might learn about the artist and her art.

Even as merely a coffee table book I think it works well. Do note that there are a few nude art photos in the volume if you are squeamish about that sort of thing.

I found this edition very helpful in creating an overall picture of O'Keefe's life and work. This book also contains personal letters that have not been published before which were a good read along with her fairly comprehensive biography. The quality of print was impressive, and it is a beautiful coffee table book as well as a reference tool.

I was very pleased with the item that I ordered. It arrived earlier than the estimated date. It was in brand new condition and the price was considerably better than what I found in stores.