O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection [Hardcover]

Barbara Buhler Lynes (Author), Russell Bowman (Author), Milwaukee Art Museum (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0500092990 | ISBN-13: 978-0500092996 | Publication Date: May 8, 2001 | Edition: 1

The first exploration of the art that Georgia O'Keeffe retained for her personal collection, including works that have never been publicly exhibited.

Georgia O'Keeffe was one of America's preeminent artists and one of the first to experiment with abstract form, though she never abandoned her deep response to and observation of nature. An enormously popular artist, she became identified and respected as an independent American spirit through both her art and her life. At the time of her death in 1986, Georgia O'Keeffe owned more than half of the approximately 2,000 works she had produced during the eighty years she was active as an artist: some 400 works in oil, charcoal, pastel, pencil, and watercolor, as well as more than 700 sketches. For various reasons, she had always kept a portion of her art out of the public eye and these works were not published, exhibited, or available for purchase during her lifetime. Among the works that had been exhibited and sold over the years, some were repurchased by O'Keeffe as they became available. This book explores for the first time the significance of O'Keeffe's collection of her own work. Approximately 75 seminal works, dating from about 1910 through the 1960s and reproduced in full color, document the range and quality of the art that O'Keeffe either chose to retain in her estate or consciously distributed to institutions in her lifetime and as bequests. It reveals her thinking in relation to her oeuvre, providing a unique perspective from which to understand O'Keeffe as artist and collector. The book accompanies an exhibition organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, the principal recipients to date of art from the O'Keeffe estate. The exhibition coincides with the opening of the Milwaukee Art Museum's major addition designed by noted Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. 110 color and 20 black-and-white illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This volume was published to accompany a traveling exhibition of the same name organized jointly by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. At her death, O'Keeffe owned more than half of the approximately 2000 known artworks of her total output. These works were wide-ranging in date, medium, subject, and quality. Here, Lynes looks at O'Keeffe's possible motivations for keeping these particular works for herself, including specific strategies learned from husband and mentor Alfred Stieglitz to market her art and maintain her financial security. For example, O'Keeffe might have kept a number of her charcoal abstractions out of the public eye, as they were not as marketable and distracted from her image as a painter of imagery of the southwestern United States. She also seems to have held back pieces that she felt were important examples of her work, including the "Evening Star" watercolors. Illustrated with beautiful color plates, this book is recommended for all libraries with art collections. Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll., MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Explores and showcases the significance of O'Keeffe's collection of her own work . . . Unique, impressive...an essential volume. -- The Bookwatch, June 2001

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; 1 edition (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500092990
• ISBN-13: 978-0500092996
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seventy-five seminal works reproduced in full color, June 6, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection (Hardcover)

Georgia O'Keeffe died in 1986 owning more than half the approximately two thousand works she had produced during the eighty years she was active as an artist. Four hundred of those works were oils, charcoals, pastels, pencils, and watercolors. Additionally there were more than seven hundred sketches in her personal collection. O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection explores and showcases the significance of Georgia O'Keeffe's collection of her own work and comprises seventy-five seminal works reproduced in full color and dating from around 1910 down through the 1960s. Unique, impressive, O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes is an essential volume for students of American art history in general, and the life and work of Georgia O'Keeffe in particular.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Georgia O'Keefe Book, January 8, 2008

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Albert Fargnoli (St. Louis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection (Hardcover)

This is an excellent gift for someone who wants the art but also a little bit of background. Nicely done.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of OKeeffe's work, August 24, 2007

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Blue Goat (Utah, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: O'Keeffe's O'Keeffes: The Artist's Collection (Hardcover)

This is a great overview of OKeeffe's work. I love her desert work and recommend this coffee table book which is full of her work.