A review by brughiera
Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life by Roxana Robinson

5.0

I read this book in preparation for a visit to Santa Fe and New Mexico- Georgia O'Keeffe heartland. Subsequently I travelled to New York and the book gave me a new understanding of O'Keeffe's nature, why she painted what she did when she did and her need to breathe in the open skies of New Mexico. Ms Robinson carefully illustrates how O'Keeffe's background and upbringing nourished her independent spirit and led to her individualistic artistic development which was nourished and nurtured by Steiglitz. She renders credible the very real affection the two shared, anchored in their professional artistic interests and strong enough to survive very different temperaments and other interests - O'Keeffe's for wide open spaces, solitude and travel, Steiglitz's for family, friends, New York and Lake George. By the time Steiglitz passed away, Georgia O'Keeffe was a mature and even famous artist well able to settle and paint where she chose, which was her beloved New Mexico. Ms Robinson shows that although O'Keeffe was content and at peace in her new home and enjoyed extensive travel and the company of local people and friends, the tension and companionship of her relationship with Steiglitz was missing. The final, eventually sorry relationship with Juan Hamilton, who controlled access to her in her very old age and abused her trust is a sad end to what was a long and fruitful life of a woman who essentially lived and painted as she wished.