News - Engl Library & Archive at Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Georgia O'Keeffe's Wartime Texas Letters

01/29/2021

Tori Duggan

Georgia O'Keeffe, Book review

Georgia O'Keeffe's Wartime Texas Letters by Amy Von Lintel; Bonney MacDonald (Foreword by)

Call Number: N6537.O39 A3 2020

Publication Date: 2020

In 1912, at age 24, Georgia O'Keeffe boarded a train in Virginia and headed west, to the prairies of the Texas Panhandle, to take a position as art teacher for the newly organized Amarillo Public Schools. Subsequently she would join the faculty at what was then West Texas State Normal College (now West Texas A&M University). Already a thoroughly independent-minded woman, she maintained an active correspondence with her future husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, and other friends back east during the years she lived in Texas.

Amy Von Lintel brings to readers the collected O'Keeffe correspondence and added commentary and analysis, shining fresh light on a period of the artist's life she characterizes as "some of the least appreciated in the vast O'Keeffe scholarship," but also as "a time when she discovered her own voice as a young, successful, and independent woman . . . a dedicated faculty member at a brand-new college . . . a vibrant social butterfly . . . a progressive woman who spoke her mind and fought for her beliefs to be heard."

Von Lintel aims to allow the artist's voice to "emerge as a powerful witness of her own life, but also of western America in a pivotal moment of its development." The result is an important new examination of one of our most beloved artists during a time when she was in the process of discovering her future identity.

Review:

"Von Lintel’s commentaries help the reader feel O’Keeffe’s love of life, love of personal freedom and how the approaching war influenced her thinking."

It’s a wonderful life: Two authors examine Georgia O’Keeffe’s years in West Texas, NM and influences on her art / by David Steinberg, Albuquerque Journal, December 6, 2020

Learn More:

Amy Von Lintel discusses her book and discoveries on C-SPAN.

Celebration of Democracy and Condemnation of Violence

01/20/2021

Liz Ehrnst

No Subjects

Today, on the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States and the beginning of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president, we celebrate democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, and support the American Library Association (ALA) statement condemning the recent violence on Capitol Hill. From ALA:

ALA forcefully condemns the violent attempts to undermine the integrity of our electoral process and our democracy… Libraries in America defend the constitutional rights of all individuals and are cornerstones of the communities they serve. We celebrate and preserve our democratic society so that all individuals have the opportunity to become lifelong learners and engaged residents – informed, literate, educated, and culturally enriched.

Full statement available online.

We celebrate the American people’s resilience and commitment to coming together to work towards a better future.

O'Keeffe and Stieglitz Letters to Henwar Rodakiewicz Now Available at the Library of Congress

01/13/2021

Liz Ehrnst

Georgia O'Keeffe, Archives

Congratulations to the Library of Congress for reaching their December 2020 goal to make available online the Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz Correspondence and Related Material collection. The collection contains 157 items (618 digital images) consisting mostly of letters written by Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz to their friend Henwar Rodakiewicz dating from 1929 to 1947. Rodakiewicz was a filmmaker, screenwriter, and director, and was best known for his documentary films such as Land of enchantment : Southwest U.S.A. featuring O'Keeffe at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico.

The materials were acquired by the Library of Congress by purchase and gift in October 2018.

Explore the collection online through the finding aid to the archival collection with links to the digital content.