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Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
Georgia O'Keeffe
Briefly examines the life and work of the twentieth-century American artist known for her paintings of flowers and presents examples of her art
32 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 24, 2025
You can’t convince me that Georgia and Alfred weren’t in a lavender marriage.
October 14, 2017
An entertaining brief introduction to O’Keeffe for older elementary/junior high/maybe even high school students. I’m not sure the book really captures why people love her work so much. But it does an excellent job of presenting both reproductions of her actual artworks and his own very witty cartoons that make the story entertaining. I wasn’t blown away but I do think it’s a good solid introduction to O’Keeffe for younger readers.
August 16, 2018
Good children's non-fiction detailing the life of Georgia O'Keeffe that is simple, but hits the important details. Even though it's from 1993 (wow, when I was born!) - it's relevant and true that I can use it for a library art program today.
July 16, 2024
My almost-4th grader loved reading about an artist he learned about in school. And I did too! As a female artist, she really broke barriers. It was awesome to hear how her parents encouraged her 1) to go to college and 2) to pursue art, as both were mainly just for men in 1900.
July 4, 2019
It was an awesome book & I love the series!
February 5, 2020
One nude from another painter, otherwise up to par with our other bios.
April 7, 2020
Not amazing, but a solid simple biography. I appreciate that he does minimal imagining of thoughts and feelings and has excellent examples of her work.
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May 1, 2022Interisting. Has a lot of photos of her artworks which I like
August 23, 2024
This is such a good book and goes into the history of Georgia O'Keeffes life. I like the simplicity of these books and. how easy they are for young students to read!
December 28, 2014
Previously read: currently playing catch-up.
I don't know what I expected when I started reading this, but whatever it was, I did not receive it.
I first knew Georgia O'Keefe from an educational computer game in which you helped a robot stop a mad scientist from changing history so she could cheat on her 4th grade history test. (Great premise, even greater game.) O'Keefe's paintings were part of a game in which you matched analogies and patterns together, forming a completed picture. The voice-over provided little snippets of O'Keefe's life and work, but not much beyond the fact that her art centered on southwestern themes.
It was years later I discovered the sexual nature of O'Keefe's work: this time, it was through of slew of 90s and 00s comedians joking about how all her flower paintings looked like vaginas. Unfortunately, I never did extensive enough research to confirm if that was her intention, but having read a few interviews in which her friends and critics made similar connections between her work and female sexuality, the idea stayed firmly planted in my mind.
Sitting down to read Mike Venzenia's book for the first time a few weeks ago, I thus wondered how much he could actually say about her work, seeing that he probably wouldn't touch on the sexual component, and what I'd previously read led me to believe that that was integral to understanding O'Keefe.
I think, oddly enough, I got a sense of that sexuality in reading Venezia's work, but not overtly.
It was strange, to be sure. Much more attention was given to O'Keefe's art than to her personal life: diffierent from the 50/50 balance found in other Venezia books. There weren't as many cartoons in this edition, either. Halfway through, it felt as if Mike had simply run out of material, and tried to stretch out the book by including more paintings and using fewer sentences per page.
It worked, though. O'Keefe's lack of human subjects leads to artwork that, to me, feels cosmic and by-and-large contemplative. In a way, her paintings remind me of the plays of Samuel Beckett: stark, but highly-detailed in the starkness. (Then again, everything reminds me of Beckett for I love him so.) The information regarding her personal life felt stale, details of her marriage not very helpful and almost forced in delivery. But the art more than made up for the imperfections in the writing. Perhaps it's just the nature of O'Keefe's artwork. But Venezia's selection, as always, led to a sense of mystery and--dare I say--eroticism that made me want to better understand the true nature of Georgia's art.
I don't know what I expected when I started reading this, but whatever it was, I did not receive it.
I first knew Georgia O'Keefe from an educational computer game in which you helped a robot stop a mad scientist from changing history so she could cheat on her 4th grade history test. (Great premise, even greater game.) O'Keefe's paintings were part of a game in which you matched analogies and patterns together, forming a completed picture. The voice-over provided little snippets of O'Keefe's life and work, but not much beyond the fact that her art centered on southwestern themes.
It was years later I discovered the sexual nature of O'Keefe's work: this time, it was through of slew of 90s and 00s comedians joking about how all her flower paintings looked like vaginas. Unfortunately, I never did extensive enough research to confirm if that was her intention, but having read a few interviews in which her friends and critics made similar connections between her work and female sexuality, the idea stayed firmly planted in my mind.
Sitting down to read Mike Venzenia's book for the first time a few weeks ago, I thus wondered how much he could actually say about her work, seeing that he probably wouldn't touch on the sexual component, and what I'd previously read led me to believe that that was integral to understanding O'Keefe.
I think, oddly enough, I got a sense of that sexuality in reading Venezia's work, but not overtly.
It was strange, to be sure. Much more attention was given to O'Keefe's art than to her personal life: diffierent from the 50/50 balance found in other Venezia books. There weren't as many cartoons in this edition, either. Halfway through, it felt as if Mike had simply run out of material, and tried to stretch out the book by including more paintings and using fewer sentences per page.
It worked, though. O'Keefe's lack of human subjects leads to artwork that, to me, feels cosmic and by-and-large contemplative. In a way, her paintings remind me of the plays of Samuel Beckett: stark, but highly-detailed in the starkness. (Then again, everything reminds me of Beckett for I love him so.) The information regarding her personal life felt stale, details of her marriage not very helpful and almost forced in delivery. But the art more than made up for the imperfections in the writing. Perhaps it's just the nature of O'Keefe's artwork. But Venezia's selection, as always, led to a sense of mystery and--dare I say--eroticism that made me want to better understand the true nature of Georgia's art.
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December 17, 2015• Summarize the book
This book is about the life of the famous artist Georgia O’Keefe. The book starts by talking about where she was born and that she would grow up to become one of the most famous painters in America. She is famous for her paintings of things in nature and more specifically, flowers. She would also paint images in her mind such as soft waves or swirls. It then talks about how she studied art at many schools and won awards for her work. She became very famous for her paintings of large flowers with bright colors. She was one of the first women artists to become so famous in America. She fell in love with her friend and fellow artist Alfred Stieglitz and they got married. She also loved to paint the desert in New Mexico which is where she lived until she died at the age of 98. He work is still some of the most famous pieces of art in America and can be found in many museums.
• Identify the characteristics from the text that support the specific genre (What makes it traditional literature? What makes it historical fiction?)
This is a biography because it outlines the specific events in the life of the famous artist. It also shows photos of her original artwork.
• Identify specific literary or educational concepts that could be integrated into the classroom. (eg. This book is a good text to use when teaching how to make inferences, or This books deals with bullying and would be useful when beginning a discussion about bullying in the classroom.)
This could be used to integrate art into a reading lesson. Teachers could have students research a specific artists and try to model some of their work. This book also does a good job at following the sequence of events in her life and could be a good model to use if children were learning about how to develop a plot.
• Provide any other suggestions that would be useful regarding literary content, reading level, and other ways in which the book might be integrated.
Even though this is written at a 3rd grade level, students of all ages could use this book as a reference to see the different pieces of work done by Georgia O’Keefe.
This book is about the life of the famous artist Georgia O’Keefe. The book starts by talking about where she was born and that she would grow up to become one of the most famous painters in America. She is famous for her paintings of things in nature and more specifically, flowers. She would also paint images in her mind such as soft waves or swirls. It then talks about how she studied art at many schools and won awards for her work. She became very famous for her paintings of large flowers with bright colors. She was one of the first women artists to become so famous in America. She fell in love with her friend and fellow artist Alfred Stieglitz and they got married. She also loved to paint the desert in New Mexico which is where she lived until she died at the age of 98. He work is still some of the most famous pieces of art in America and can be found in many museums.
• Identify the characteristics from the text that support the specific genre (What makes it traditional literature? What makes it historical fiction?)
This is a biography because it outlines the specific events in the life of the famous artist. It also shows photos of her original artwork.
• Identify specific literary or educational concepts that could be integrated into the classroom. (eg. This book is a good text to use when teaching how to make inferences, or This books deals with bullying and would be useful when beginning a discussion about bullying in the classroom.)
This could be used to integrate art into a reading lesson. Teachers could have students research a specific artists and try to model some of their work. This book also does a good job at following the sequence of events in her life and could be a good model to use if children were learning about how to develop a plot.
• Provide any other suggestions that would be useful regarding literary content, reading level, and other ways in which the book might be integrated.
Even though this is written at a 3rd grade level, students of all ages could use this book as a reference to see the different pieces of work done by Georgia O’Keefe.
July 10, 2015
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists, Georgia O'Keeffe is another nice edition in this fantastic collection by Mike Venezia. These books are perfect for exposing elementary and junior high aged students to a large variety of artists and styles of art in a memorable way.
July 19, 2009
A children's book which I bought for grandchildren. Very nice with basic information about Georgia O'Keeffee and lots of great pictures of here work.
February 15, 2014
I used to love these books as a kid. Simple, but nicely done.
November 27, 2013
Cool! I've already fallen head over heels with Georgia O'Keeffe! What a superb artist!
March 22, 2016
06/11: We love this series. This was one of David's favorite in the series.
July 24, 2016
Great children's book about Georgia O'Keeffe. And her name is spelled correctly in the book, thank gods, lmfao. Simple biography intermixed with art, both of O'Keeffe's and Venezia's own.
December 30, 2009
She ate soil before.She married her husband.
October 14, 2016
Good into. bio on O'Keeffe.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews