Art and the crisis of marriage : Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe /

There is no paucity of books on either Edward Hopper (1882-1967) or Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), but Fryd (Vanderbilt Univ.) provides a stimulating, new approach to their work, concentrating on a pervasive theme in the society the artists shared as well as illuminating anew the relationship between their work and their lives. A "marriage crisis," prevalent in the popular press, became widespread in the US between the two world wars. As more and more women entered the industrialized and urbanized workforce, birthrates fell and divorce rates rose, and simultaneously, a developing sexual revolution eroded Victorian manners and morals. By combining iconographic and formal analysis of works by Hopper and O'Keeffe with a consideration of biographical details of their marriages, Fryd demonstrates how each expressed the positives and negatives in their separate relationships. Fryd not only sheds compelling new light on the work of two of the US's most prominent artists but also illuminates issues of family, gender, and sexuality as manifested during the first half of the 20th century and continuing to shape American society today. Substantial endnotes and bibliography; some 120 high-quality images; detailed index. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. J. Weidman Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art