Georgia O’Keeffe by Charles C. Eldredge, Deluxed Edition, Easton Press

Georgia O’Keeffe by Charles C. Eldredge

Easton Press Deluxe Leather Bound Edition

FINE Condition

This is a beautiful oversized leather bound edition of “Georgia O’Keefe” published by the Easton Press in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institute in 1991. In his opening chapter, Charles C Eldredge, professor of art at the University of Kansas, writes at length about the indomitable Georgia O'Keeffe and in the succeeding chapters he looks at various aspects of her work under the headings: Abstraction, Lake Georgia, Fruit and Leaf, Flower, City, Desert, Bone and Sky. In doing so he encompasses O'Keeffe's complete oeuvre. He concludes his study with a chronology and a selected bibliography. The book is illustrated throughout with around 55 color plates and over 50 black and white illustrations, including some pictures published here for the first time. The majority of the color plates and a few of the monochromes are full page. This is a well produced large format book printed on heavy stock, the text is interesting and accessible; and it is enlightening to see the wide range of the artist's output, and the familiar alongside to unfamiliar.

From the publisher, “Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings - the exquisite recesses of flowers, the southwestern hills, clouds, and bleached bones, the sculptural abstract forms painted in strong, clear colorrs - are beloved by critics and public alike. This book examines O'Keeffe's life and work, focusing on the quintessential American qualities of her art and her idiosyncratic way of seeing. Charles C. Eldredge begins with a discussion of O'Keeffe as an American artist, describing the openly nationalistic billing that her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, gave to her New York one-woman show in 1923, the ways in which she fits into an American tradition in painting that extends back to Copley and the Peale family, and her reluctance to be influenced by foreign art trends. Recounting how O'Keeffe left New York and returned to the rural subjects of her childhood, Eldredge shows that the artist's preoccupation with subjects such as barns not only reflected an urge to paint "something I know" but also aligned her with the Transcendentalist tradition in American thought. Eldredge explores the psychoanalytic speculation surrounding the strong element of sexuality in O'Keeffe's work, setting her in the context of America's awakening enthusiasm for Freudian theorizing and assessing the extent to which her work can be seen as feminine self-revelation. He describes O'Keeffe's modernity, her innovative readiness to push her art towards abstraction and serial art. And he analyzes her aesthetic vision, which, moulded by western landscape, the photographic techniques absorbed from Stieglitz, and her faith in a spiritual cosmos, helped her to create a unique body of work. This book, which reproduces a rich selection of O'Keeffe's paintings, and includes full commentary for each work.”

The book measures approximately 12” x 9” with 160 pages and features the usual Easton Press fineries including:

·      hubbed spine, bound in premium full leathers

·      distinctive cover design with a laid in picture by Georgia O’keeffe, beautiful illustrations

·      handsome, readable typefaces, permanent satin ribbon page marker

·      elegant gilded page edges

·      thread-sewn pages for durability and strength, long-lasting high quality, acid-neutral paper

The book is in FINE condition.