Author Description

"Kathleen Pyne meticulously reconstructs the artistic lives of the important-but relatively overlooked-women artists of Alfred Stieglitz's circle. She demonstrates that Stieglitz's interactions with these artists shaped his subsequent promotion of Georgia O'Keeffe's artistic identity through the Freudian-inflected trope of the 'woman-child.' Thus, however well known O'Keeffe may be to contemporary audiences, Pyne's analysis effectively resituates her iconic presence within a broader, gendered field of American modernism."--Marcia Brennan, Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History, Rice University "This book is a fascinating study of Stieglitz's 'prototypes' for Georgia O'Keeffe--the modern women artists he promoted and encouraged before he decided on O'Keeffe as the icon who surpassed them all. Modernism and the Feminine Voice will not only open up O'Keeffe studies but also reinvigorate interest in the more quixotic artists such as Anne Brigman left in O'Keeffe's wake."--Alexander Nemerov, Professor in the Department of the History of Art, Yale University "Pyne widens the field of vision around the art of Georgia O'Keeffe in order to sharpen our focus on it. Our understanding of the sexual politics of modernism is deeply enriched and nuanced by this important book."--Michael Leja, Professor in the Department of History of Art, University of Pennsylvania "This engaging and original study of American modernism finally places Georgia O'Keeffe in the context of her female peers. Pyne draws upon rich primary sources and lively contemporary influences that include Henri Bergson, Havelock Ellis, and Sigmund Freud. She makes explicit what Alfred Stieglitz meant by 'female creativity, ' and how he went about finding it, giving due emphasis to the role played by sexuality in the emergence of the modernist female artist."--Gail Levin, author of Becoming Judy Chicago: A Biography of the Artist