Portrait Of An Artist: Georgia O'keeffe

This television documentary, originally produced by WNET for a PBS series, is especially timely in view of the recent death of Georgia O'Keeffe. The film is a wonderful portrait of this most prominent and most original American female artist of the 20th century. It provides the viewer with some understanding of her life and work through an examination of her paintings, insights from close associates and art historians, and conversations with O'Keeffe herself in her New Mexico home (notably, this was the first time O'Keeffe appeared on camera). Georgia O'Keeffe was an American original--an artist whose stubborn independence drove her to make her way outside of any European school of painting; a female artist who succeeded in a man's world; an innovator whose fresh vision of nature inspired her to create some of the earliest abstract paintings in America. The candid conversations reveal the sources of her inspiration, her sense of humor, her love of life and her boundless joy in creating art. This is an excellent film that would be a valuable addition to women's studies collections as well as art collections. Highly recommended for high school and public libraries. (Available from Home Vision, 5547 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL 60640-1199) (Gail Goodrick)