Maria Chabot - Georgia O'Keeffe: Correspondence, 1941-1949

by Barbara Buhler Lynes (Introduction), Ann Paden (Editor)

Maria Chabot met Georgia O'Keeffe in Northern New Mexico in 1940. O'Keeffe, one of America's most celebrated artists, was fifty-three and had just purchased a house at Ghost Ranch where she had painted over several previous summers. Chabot, a San Antonian and an aspiring but unknown writer, was a robust twenty-six and familiar with the largely Spanish-speaking culture of the region. The two were drawn to each other for different reasons. To be free to paint, O'Keeffe needed capable help to sustain and provision her remote household, and although Chabot needed a place to live where she could pursue her writing with minimum distraction, she was also seeking a mentor. For four summers beginning in 1941, when O'Keeffe was in New Mexico, Chabot lived with the artist at Ghost Ranch, managing her house and guests, and organizing the famed camping-painting trips from which came some of O'Keeffe's most distinguished works of the period. In 1946, Chabot agreed to conceive and oversee the reconstruction of a ruined adobe house in Abiquiu, NM, that would become O'Keeffe's permanent home in 1949. During the periods when O'Keeffe was in New York where she lived with her husband, famed photographer Alfred Stieglitz, the two women wrote each other with remarkable frequency. Their letters describe their love for northern New Mexico, the hardships of life there during World War II, and their interactions with the diverse cultural groups of the region. The letters also offer insights into the women's very different ways of dealing with the world and their differing perceptions of a complex and sometimes tempestuous friendship.

568 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2003

Reviews

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it. I've been an O'Keeffe nut since the late 80s early 90s. I was fascinated by these letters. I've visited the Abiquiu house, so I could really appreciate the pictures of the restoration/construction project to make it habitable for O'Keeffe. I have mixed feelings about Chabot. I feel like O'Keeffe really didn't understand the enormous amount of work Chabot did for her, but at the same time, I can see that there was a weird dynamic in their friendship near the end of the 40s. The descriptions of the difficulties obtaining tires, gas, meat, etc. during WWII rationing was fascinating, too. For anybody who is interested in O'Keeffe and New Mexico, this would be a very satisfying read.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read. Loved the juxtaposition of Maria's emotional letters to Georgia's calm cool and collected. They both are so interesting in their own ways. Maria had some lovely sentences like this one: "I'm so far away from myself, from the quiet center that is--or should be a life." I wish I had made note of more. Clearly there was an imbalance of power in their friendship with Maria in the groveling role. I'd love to know more about her. I think I've pretty much satisfied my desire for more GOK with this one.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no other way to describe this book than as a 'tome'. It was intriguing reading through this correspondence and feeling as though I'm trespassing while doing it. It's hard to believe that this was only 9 years of letters. What an interesting look into their relationship. And, to also see how events transpiring in the world during this time both did, and did not, really effect them. Fascinating!