Review by Choice Review
Many volumes have been written about Georgia O'Keeffe's art and life in the past twenty years since she has attained the status of an artistic legend. Despite the plethora of material available on the artist, a sense of mystery persists about her which intrigues authors and the public alike. Robinson's book displays a number of advantages over earlier biographies. Most significantly, this biography is the first to have the active cooperation of the O'Keeffe family, and Robinson utilizes many sources not available to earlier authors. This access to the family and to new materials is evident in the scope and detail of the text, which tracks O'Keeffe's life from birth to death and into the controversies that followed. Written in a generous but factual style, the text is occasionally embellished with romantic touches revealing Robinson's background as a novelist. The quality of the research, evident in the bibliography and the notes, reflects Robinson's experiences as an art historian who has written previously about the Stieglitz circle. The book includes more than 90 small, black-and-white illustrations of good quality, limited largely to the places and people important in O'Keeffe's life. For now, Robinson's work is the best source available although Laurie Lisle's Portrait of an Artist (CH, Apr'87) still has much to recommend it. Robinson's book will appeal to readers in both public and undergraduate libraries. -J. A. Day, University of South Dakota
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
