| “Forget, if you can, what you think you know about Georgia O’Keeffe.” Nancy Zastudil begins her book review today with this invitation to reconsider the artist, whose ubiquity has also paved the way for the oversimplification of her life and work. Read Zastudil’s analysis of a new book on O’Keeffe’s later years, her turn toward abstraction, and how to approach her work through the lens of race and class.
Let’s borrow this challenge when it comes to another woman whose legacy has been distorted by history: Gala Dalí, long characterized solely as Salvador Dalí’s muse. She was, in fact, also the driving force behind the marketing and sale of her husband’s work, not to mention his creative partner and a major influence on other Surrealist artists. Calling Gala “a fundamental connector,” Hall Rockefeller considers what a new biography gets right, and wrong, below.
And for anyone with a love of manicures, sculptures, or both, Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar cracks open a sumptuous photo book on the fine art of nail art. Tembe Denton-Hurst’s Fresh Sets gives us a stirring look into the genre-defying field of nail art, where nails become portals to other worlds. It makes you wonder what else in our everyday lives is a canvas in disguise, just waiting for us to notice and leave our mark. — Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Associate Editor |
