Film: Georgia O'Keeffe

[cowanw]

I have a book
O'keeffe and Stieglitz
An American Romance
by Benita Eisler
Which is well worth finding if this relationship interests you.
Very strange people, them two
Regards
Bill

[poco]

I fell asleep half way through the film but up until then it struck me as strange how little it focused on her art. For the first hour (at least) of the movie, you'd barely know she painted.

[Mark Sawyer]

The show seemed an odd soap opera to me; O'Keefe portrayed as a strong woman, and Stieglitz as an almost comedically weak man, yet he totally dominated and victimized her. And Dorothy Norman was played as a wide-eyed, somewhat foolish schoolgirl/sex-kitten. Through her actual writings and photography, she seemed to be quite a bit more than that.

Perhaps one of the little victories of spending one's artistic life in obscurity is that Lifetime never does a bio-pic on you...

[mandoman7]

Pretty much the same stuff you get with the Van Gogh movie, Lust for Life, and other such exploitations. Its never the goal to delve into what's behind the creative process. Rather, they identify an odd element in their behaviour and exaggerate that, as a weak excuse for a story.

I've argued at parties that if artists were given the same press as are given the sports heroes in the sports sections, then a comparable fan base would be developed. People respond to stories that develop empathy, such as those human interest stories about the athlete who's overcome personal difficulties. Stories about overcoming hurdles, and dealing with setbacks, always engender support and interest. Those writers know how to stoke the interest of a fan base.

But artists are typically given patronizing attention from the media, usually focussing on either the behavioural eccentricities, or the pussy-cat sweetness of the story. No wonder nobody can sell anything, with artists continually portrayed as self indulgent eccentrics.

[Robert Hughes]

I've argued at parties that if artists were given the same press as are given the sports heroes in the sports sections, then a comparable fan base would be developed.

But sports stars represent success icons in an authoritarian power culture, which is antithetical to the goals and personalities of most artists I know (not the success part, rather the latter).

[Jim Noel]

Steglitz was probably using ortho film, not pancro film. Insensitive to red light.

Actually, he was far more likely to be using orthochromatic film than panchromatic. When I started developing film in the late 1930's essentially all available film was ortho. There were many articles in the magazines of the time touting one over the other and gradually pan films became the most common because of several traits. Pan films were really given a big boost when Kodak began making Tri-X Pan and advertising it as superior for portraits.

[mandoman7]

But sports stars represent success icons in an authoritarian power culture, which is antithetical to the goals and personalities of most artists I know (not the success part, rather the latter).

Everyone's basically struggling for attention.

[Brian Ellis]

Several years ago there was a dramatization on O'Keefe and Steiglitz lives on PBS. No commercials (I truly cannot tolerate commercial TV anymore); I caught the broadcast at the point where he pressures her to have an abortion because raising a child would have been a nuisance, an intrusion into their (HIS) lifestyle. The film portrayed him (or maybe it's how I interpret it) as insensitive to her feelings.

Sensitivity to the feelings of others - any others - wasn't one of Steiglitz's strong points. From all I've read about him he was a very selfish, self-absorbed individual. But we judge artists by their art, not by their candidacy for a Mother Theresa award.

[mandoman7]

Didn't Ansel choose to continue on a hiking trip to get "important" pictures, rather than attend the birth of his first child? Before judging, though, the standards of the times need to be kept in mind.

Attitudes towards child rearing were wildly different in those days. Most people who could afford to would pay someone to raise their children. Seriously. This is before contraception. It was probably hardly ever good news when a pregnancy happened, compared to now. Unless you had a farm that needed workers or a dynasty that needed a successor.

[Renato Tonelli]

Sensitivity to the feelings of others - any others - wasn't one of Steiglitz's strong points. From all I've read about him he was a very selfish, self-absorbed individual. But we judge artists by their art, not by their candidacy for a Mother Theresa award.

Well put.