Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life [Paperback]

Roxana Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

Georgia O'Keeffe is arguably the 20th century's leading woman artist. Coming of age along with American modernism, her life was rich in intense relationships -- with family, friends, and especially noted photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Her struggle between the rigorous demands of love and work resulted in extraordinary accomplishments. Her often-eroticized flowers, bones, stones, skulls, and pelvises became extremely well known to a broad American public. The New York Times Book Review named this richly detailed and moving biography a Notable Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This biography, the first to draw on sources unavailable during O'Keeffe's lifetime--and the first to be granted her family's cooperation--offers a persuasive feminist analysis of the life and work of an iconic figure in American art. Inspired by strong women in a Midwestern family that stressed a sturdy sense of self-reliance, O'Keeffe bucked oppressive social conventions to become one of the first female American artists to lead a professionally successful and emancipated life. But along the way lay struggle: O'Keeffe had to fight for emotional and artistic independence in her public and private lives, experiencing particular difficulties in her relationships with men, most notably her benefactor and husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Novelist Robinson's ( Summer Light ) detailed, sensitive critique of O'Keeffe's work, tracing the development of the artist's esthetic, alternates with an absorbing, intimate narrative of O'Keeffe's personal life (including her notorious relationship with Juan Hamilton, six decades her junior, and the public battle over her estate) to provide a resourceful, imaginatively rendered portrait of a dauntingly difficult subject. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The painter Georgia O'Keeffe lived a long and complicated life, and her work has become a cultural icon, so demand for this title should be great. It is by no means a definitive biography, however. Novelist Robinson has clearly done her homework, but the uses to which she puts it are sometimes curious. After quoting a passage from O'Keeffe's correspondence, she cannot resist reiterating what she thinks the painter felt, even though O'Keeffe has just told us. Elsewhere, the description of an early romantic relationship of O'Keeffe's is vividly delineated, but we learn only in a footnote that the letters on which the description is based are only conjecturally from the man in question. While Robinson at times veers toward sentimentality in writing about the artist's life, she never does so about the work, and she treats the emotional complexity of O'Keeffe's marriage to Alfred Stieglitz and relationship with her companion Juan Hamilton with intelligence and care. Still, she wears the reader out (it takes 200 pages to get to Stieglitz's first showing of her work). This might have been a happier book as a novelization. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 679 pages
• Publisher: UPNE; 1st edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874519063
• ISBN-13: 978-0874519068
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful and Engaging Tribute to a Brilliant Artist, April 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life (Paperback)

Georgia O'Keeffe's life was one lived with courage and beauty and Robinson does her justice by writing this beautiful and engaging biography. The author delves into O'Keeffe's life and the passion of her work by describing her family history, her evolution as an artist, and perhaps more important to O'Keeffe, her evolution toward becoming her true self. The extra and vital layer that adds even more depth to this biography is Robinson's description of the art scene and the philosophies of art circulating in early 20th century New York.

This book would be of interest not only to those who enjoy O'Keeffe's work but also to those who are trying to become themselves, those who are interested in the history of art in America, or those who like to read for the sake of feeling beautiful words flowing through their mind.

This book was difficult for me to put down and I didn't want it to end. Roxana Robinson's work is a gem.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Biography, July 22, 2001

By 

zoe (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life (Paperback)

"A Life" is the best book on painter Georgia O'Keeffe available. Every moment in Georgia's life is written about with painstaking detail. Nothing is missed. From her relationship with Alfred Steiglitz and his entourage from "291" to her intimate relationship with sculptor Juan Hamilton. I can't say enough how amazing this book is and how enjoyable it is to read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In depth biography but too much info, August 30, 2008

By 

M. Reich "poet realist" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life (Paperback)

This is a very comprehensive biography of Georgia O'Keefe. It is difficult however to keep track of the names, places, dates, etc., because of all the information that is contained in the book. It might have been better if the author had broken this biography into different periods of the artist's life and/or aspects of the artist's life.

The artist's life was so full emotionally and artistically but the author often shifts back and forth between art and psyche.This often made the book difficult to follow. I wanted to understand Georgia's emotional makeup and how it contributed to the development of her art but was not able to really get a handle on this because of all the information that the author felt necessary to include. I felt there was an attempt to include too much information.