New books in the library just in time for your summer reading pleasure!
Getting to Know Georgia O'Keeffe by
Mary Grether Ligon was Georgia O'Keeffe's night companion for two years after the artist dislocated her shoulder. This book is based on the journals kept by Ligon and “offers an up-close look at how Miss O'Keeffe lived her life in her late 80s and includes some of O'Keeffe's life philosophies and how she made it as an artist.”
From the publisher: In Georgia and Anita, Liza Bennett tells the little-known story of their enduring friendship and its ultimately tragic arc. It was Pollitzer who first showed O'Keeffe's work to family friend and mentor Alfred Stieglitz, the world-famous photographer whose 291 Gallery in New York City was the epicenter of the modern art world. While O'Keeffe, Stieglitz, and their circle of friends were at the forefront of American modernism, Pollitzer became a leader of the National Woman's Party and was instrumental in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote. Considered a work of creative nonfiction by the author, the book is based on research, including extensive correspondence between the two women (see Lovingly, Georgia: the Complete Correspondence of Georgia O'Keeffe & Anita Pollitzer, 1990), and the events and chronology are accurate. The dialogue is fictional. The book includes limited notes, citations, and no index.
Hilma Af Klint:: What Stands Behind the Flowers by
Currently on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is the exhibition Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers, which “focuses on a portfolio of drawings new to MoMA’s collection—jewel-toned watercolors made by a keen-eyed naturalist, attuned to the rhythms and bounty of the blooming season.” The accompanying catalog features 216 illustrations by the artist, newly translated excerpts from the artist’s writings, and essays providing further context for af Klint’s Nature Studies.
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Bancroft Prize, Cundill History Prize, and Mark Lynton History Prize
From the publisher: In Native Nations, we see how Mohawks closely controlled trade with the Dutch—and influenced global markets—and how Quapaws manipulated French colonists. Power dynamics shifted after the American Revolution, but Indigenous people continued to command much of the continent’s land and resources. Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa forged new alliances and encouraged a controversial new definition of Native identity to attempt to wall off U.S. ambitions. The Cherokees created institutions to assert their sovereignty on the global stage, and the Kiowas used their power in the west to regulate the passage of white settlers across their territory. In this important addition to the growing tradition of North American history centered on Indigenous nations, Kathleen DuVal shows how the definitions of power and means of exerting it shifted over time, but the sovereignty and influence of Native peoples remained a constant—and will continue far into the future.
The Ultimate Museum Book: 33 Keys for Sustainability by