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.
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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.
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.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
57 of 60 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format: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.
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By zoe
Format: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
By M. Reich
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By egreetham
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This biography is factually complete, and worth reading for that reason alone, but I find two great flaws in the work: Ms. Robinson's voice intervenes loudly between the reader and the subject, and some of the judgments she reaches about Ms. O'Keeffe's actions, especially in regard to her relationship with Alfred Stieglitz seem disturbingly naive.
Why not let readers draw their own conclusions about Ms. O'Keeffe on the basis of the undeniably good research Ms. Robinson has done? And how is it possible for her to believe that, for example, the choice Ms. O'Keeffe made in becoming Stieglitz's lover was a truly free and active choice? Though O'Keeffe was a woman of thirty-one at the time, and certainly deeply attracted to Stieglitz, she was very ill and totally dependent on him. (Chapter 15 in particular details this early portion of their relationship.) He spoke of her as a "captive swan," and the description of his taking her to bed and then taking photographs of her marks him perhaps as something of a predator as well as an artist. Ms. Robinson remarks, "Georgia's willingness to collaborate, however, is unsurprising: the series [of photographs] constitutes and commemorates an act of love." Perhaps so, but to ignore other the other aspects of the situation gives an incomplete portrait of these two figures. And, in earlier chapters, the author writes in some detail of Georgia's appreciation of the potential conflict in being both an artist and a model, and this for art which was not nearly as intimate as that for which Stieglitz was using her. Although Ms. Robinson remarks briefly her thought that Georgia was aware that her collaboration in this art was important, she doesn't truly offer insight into how this reserved and independent young woman came to this conclusion.... Read more ›
Why not let readers draw their own conclusions about Ms. O'Keeffe on the basis of the undeniably good research Ms. Robinson has done? And how is it possible for her to believe that, for example, the choice Ms. O'Keeffe made in becoming Stieglitz's lover was a truly free and active choice? Though O'Keeffe was a woman of thirty-one at the time, and certainly deeply attracted to Stieglitz, she was very ill and totally dependent on him. (Chapter 15 in particular details this early portion of their relationship.) He spoke of her as a "captive swan," and the description of his taking her to bed and then taking photographs of her marks him perhaps as something of a predator as well as an artist. Ms. Robinson remarks, "Georgia's willingness to collaborate, however, is unsurprising: the series [of photographs] constitutes and commemorates an act of love." Perhaps so, but to ignore other the other aspects of the situation gives an incomplete portrait of these two figures. And, in earlier chapters, the author writes in some detail of Georgia's appreciation of the potential conflict in being both an artist and a model, and this for art which was not nearly as intimate as that for which Stieglitz was using her. Although Ms. Robinson remarks briefly her thought that Georgia was aware that her collaboration in this art was important, she doesn't truly offer insight into how this reserved and independent young woman came to this conclusion.... Read more ›
By chrisflow
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an exhaustive look at Georgia O'Keeffe's life. However, it reads like an encyclopedia. This is for you if you're looking for a more scholarly approach.
By EstherBunny
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
When in doubt send a book. When not sure which book....send this one!
She was thrilled to receive it right on her birthday. I am in Canada she's in
California...thank you Amazon!
She was thrilled to receive it right on her birthday. I am in Canada she's in
California...thank you Amazon!
By Ann Deden
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life
This is an older book, but still available from Amazon, thank goodness! My book club and I selected it because of our dual interest in women artists in the Southwest (where Georgia lived for the last part of her life) and because of our interest in the artist and her works.
There is a strong, well-researched narrative flow that makes for compelling reading. O'Keefe's personal life and artistic life were strongly interwoven, and the story captures that interaction well.
My one complaint is that there were very few pictures, and all were in black and white, with poor resolution. Given the amount of time the author spends describing paintings, I would have preferred to see what she was describing. Even a chronological list of O'Keefe's paintings would have helped me look up the paintings in other books.
Still, I heartily recommend this book for anyone with an interest in Georgia O'Keefe's life and the work it produced. It made for excellent book club discussion, as well.
This is an older book, but still available from Amazon, thank goodness! My book club and I selected it because of our dual interest in women artists in the Southwest (where Georgia lived for the last part of her life) and because of our interest in the artist and her works.
There is a strong, well-researched narrative flow that makes for compelling reading. O'Keefe's personal life and artistic life were strongly interwoven, and the story captures that interaction well.
My one complaint is that there were very few pictures, and all were in black and white, with poor resolution. Given the amount of time the author spends describing paintings, I would have preferred to see what she was describing. Even a chronological list of O'Keefe's paintings would have helped me look up the paintings in other books.
Still, I heartily recommend this book for anyone with an interest in Georgia O'Keefe's life and the work it produced. It made for excellent book club discussion, as well.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't Wait to read!
This book was recommended by my friend and I just had to get my own copy. It's a used book in excellent condition. Can't wait to read it!
Published 12 months ago by K. Currie
3.0 out of 5 stars
subjective at best
This book is very readable and informative but leaves out lots of information that I would have found critical. More details about her life in New Mexico would have been relavant. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Duffy Z. Baum
4.0 out of 5 stars
Georgia O'Keeffe
Good detailed book about her life and her career. I specifically like the excerpts of her letters.
Though almost 600 pages is a bit long.
Though almost 600 pages is a bit long.
Published 18 months ago by bookworm63
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chosen for a book club.
This is not a book that I would probably have purchased for myself. I have to admit it is a good book. She was quite a woman!
Published 22 months ago by Sadie Sadie
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 54
books:
See all 54 books this book cites
- Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs and Writings by Sarah Greenough on 9 pages
- American Literature (Widener Library Shelflist, Nos. 26 and 27) by Richard De Gennard on 7 pages
- Alfred Stieglitz (Aperture Masters of Photography) by Alfred Stieglitz on 7 pages
- Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe by Laurie Lisle on 6 pages
- Stieglitz: A Memoir/Biography by Sue Davidson Lowe on 5 pages
See all 54 books this book cites
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