Georgia

American artist Georgia O'Keeffe blazes across the pages in Tripp's tour de force about this indomitable woman, whose life was both supported and stymied by the love of her life, photographer and art promoter Alfred Stieglitz. The author manages to get inside O'Keeffe's mind to such an extent that readers experience her transformation from a somewhat shy Texan art teacher who decided to throw away the rules to create her own art to the accomplished, strong-willed woman who held to her artistic vision; they will feel the passion that infused her work and love life that emboldened her canvases. Especially eye-opening is the way Stieglitz's nude photographs of O'Keeffe not only amazed and scandalized the art world, but shadowed the perception of her paintings and her identity, a consequence that haunted her most of her life until she made New Mexico her permanent home and reinvented herself as a solitary artist of the Western landscape. The relationship between Stieglitz and O'Keeffe, and her metamorphosis from lover to wife to jilted partner, is poignantly drawn. Tripp has hit her stride here, bringing to life one of the most remarkable artists of the 20th century with veracity, heart, and panache. (Feb.)