Georgia O'Keeffe: American Art Series

As a parent of a teenager, I took a peek inside to find out if there was anything on her days at Chatham Hall, a high school O'Keeffe attended in Virginia a century ago, which was then Chatham Episcopal Institute. A few quotes from the book:"she would remember that period as important especially because of her long walks in the hills "with the line of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the horizon calling me, as distances have always called me."' (p.10)"I only remember two things I painted in those years.... I slapped my paint about quite a bit and did not care where it landed." "Of tremendous importance during this time was the admiration and encouragement Georgia received from the principal at Chatham, Elizabeth may Willis, who was also the art teacher. She saw Georgia's talent and encouraged it unstintingly. Even in later years Willis followed O'Keeffe's career, inviting her to substitute as art teacher when she herself took a few months off, and traveling to New York to see exhibits of her student's work many years later." (p.11,12)"Georgia ... graduated from Chatham at the age of 17" and "went on the study at the Art Institute of Chicago...." About Chicago Art Institute, according to Frazier, O'Keeffe said "I don't remember learning anything except that I finally became accustomed to the idea of the nude model." (p.15)Apparently she blossomed as a painter later. O'Keeffe was "encouraged ... unstintingly" at Chatham. She even enjoyed patronage of a sort from Chatham in her employment as substitute art teacher. About her, Lewis Mumford later wrote "Miss O'Keeffe is perhaps the most original painter in America." (p.7)"She was not unfriendly or antisocial.... She joined in pranks with high spirits while keeping her reputation as a nonconformist." Wonderfully written with beautifully reproduced prints. It was great to get information of her development along with excellent reproductions of her work. (...)December 3, 2001