Georgia O'Keeffe (Second)

World of Art

by Lisa Mintz Messinger

A revised edition of this classic survey that presents a thorough overview of Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and work. 


Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) was a major figure in American art for seven decades. Throughout that long and prolific career she remained true to her unique artistic vision, creating a highly individual style that synthesized the formal language of modern European abstraction and the themes of traditional American pictorialism. The main subjects she returned to again and again were the flowers, animal bones, and landscapes around her studios in Lake George, New York, and New Mexico, to which her legacy is tied.


This comprehensive and illuminating book by noted O’Keeffe scholar Lisa Mintz Messinger surveys her complete oeuvre—drawings, watercolors, and paintings from all periods—and explains her life in the context of her artistic output. Now revised with an updated bibliography, Georgia O’Keeffe features color reproductions of artworks throughout. 

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Art History

287 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1988

Reviews

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

©2001 Personal collection

This book on O'Keeffe and her works was written by a scholar of her works. Color plates and black-and-white photographs are included, but not all are O'Keeffe's works. Some are included to show influencers of the times who MAY have influenced certain aspects of O'Keeffe's work. A fairly technical life overview.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book combining art historical analysis of Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings with her biography and place in American history and in the canon of art history. i learned so much from this book, read in conjunction with my trip to the O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe. I did not know O’Keefe graduated from high school in Virginia and taught at UVA. i had never seen her building painting nor considered her association with the artists Charles Sheeler and Arthur Dove. I learned a lot about her relationship with Steiglitz - how it inspired and stifled her. and her painting of the New Mexican landscape attained new meaning as I looked at them, read about them, and considered them in the context of the actual landscape.

[Feisty Harriet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a little light on the feminist theory that I love so much when it comes to O'Keeffe, and she tends to keep the relationship pieces out of it almost completely (O'Keeffe's romantic relationships and her friendships), but Mintz Messinger crafts an otherwise fairly comprehensive biography of Georgia and my edition included pages of full color reproductions of O'Keeffe's artwork, some art from her contemporaries, and several pages of photographs.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but solid overview of one of 20th-century America's most important artists. In under 100 pages it didn't have time to go into great depth, but even so there was a lot here, and a lot of clear colour illustrations too - not only of O'Keeffe's work but also of other artists in her milieu.

[Liliana Valenzuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is more about the art than the personality, although it gives the basics of her biography. The writing about art is clear, concise & illuminating, not always the case when describing art for the lay audience. Portable format with great, good quality illustrations in nice glossy paper.

[Eriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize O'Keeffe also painted the NY skyline and other metro areas in addition to her natural work.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of O'Keeffe's life and work.

[Patsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was very good. Her life intrigued me and encouraged me. I am doing more research about her and I love her art style. This is a good read!!

[Sally H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Metropolitan Museum of Art book by Lisa Messinger. She references paintings by O"Keeffe that are owned by the Museum as well as other paintings. Great pictures of O'Keeffee's work. I have owned this book for over 25 years and reread it again because of PEO Book Club's reading of "Georgia"