Books by Sarah Kelly Oehler
Charles White: A Retrospective
by Sarah Kelly Oehler, Esther Adler
A revelatory reassessment of one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century
Charles White (1918–1979) is best known for bold, large-scale paintings and drawings of African Americans, meticulously executed works that depict human relationships and socioeconomic struggles with a remarkable sensitivity. This comprehensive study offers a much-needed reexamination of the artist’s career and legacy. With handsome reproductions of White’s finest paintings, drawings, and prints, the volume introduces his work to contemporary audiences, reclaims his place in the art-historical narrative, and stresses the continuing relevance of his insistent dedication to producing positive social change through art.
Tracing White’s career from his emergence in Chicago to his mature practice as an artist, activist, and educator in New York and Los Angeles, leading experts provide insights into White’s creative process, his work as a photographer, his political activism and interest in history, the relationship between his art and his teaching, and the importance of feminism in his work. A preface by Kerry James Marshall addresses White’s significance as a mentor to an entire generation of practitioners and underlines the importance of this largely overlooked artist.
Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition Schedule:
The Art Institute of Chicago
(06/08/18–09/03/18)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
(10/07/18–01/13/19)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(02/17/19–06/09/19)
Copies
No copies available.
Georgia O'Keeffe: "My New Yorks"
by Sarah Kelly Oehler, Annelise K. Madsen
A revelatory study of Georgia O’Keeffe’s New York paintings of the late 1920s and their deep significance within the artist’s development
In 1924 Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) first moved to the Shelton Hotel in New York with her husband, the photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz. The Shelton was Manhattan’s earliest residential skyscraper, and its dizzying heights inspired O’Keeffe to create a powerful series of approximately twenty-five paintings and numerous drawings over a span of about five years. She called these “my New Yorks,” and they overwhelmingly consist of two types of compositions: sprawling observations looking down onto the city and humbling views directed up at the newly built urban monoliths. Exploring the New York skyline, O’Keeffe resisted the approach of contemporaries such as Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand—who celebrated New York as a streamlined, impersonal series of geometric canyons—and instead portrayed it as an amalgamation of the organic and the inorganic, the natural and the constructed. Only in this way could she express New York (in her words) “as it is felt.”
Reshaping our understanding of this pivotal yet underappreciated period in O’Keeffe’s storied career, this publication situates the New York paintings within the artist’s larger oeuvre and examines how these works reflect narratives of built environments, racialized space, and the politics of place.
Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition Schedule:
The Art Institute of Chicago
(June 2–September 22, 2024)
High Museum, Atlanta
(October 25, 2024–February 16, 2025)
Copies
-
$50.00
They Seek a City: Chicago and the Art of Migration, 1910-1950
In the first half of the 20th century, thousands of newcomers—Eastern European émigrés, Mexican immigrants, and Southerners both black and white—flocked to Chicago. These new residents included artists who made significant contributions to the vibrant cultural life of the city. They Seek a City highlights approximately seventy-five paintings, works on paper, photographs, and sculptures by such artists as Eldzier Cortor, Archibald Motley, and Morris Topchevsky that reflect the diverse urban social landscape.
As these artists sought to navigate their surroundings and establish their identities amid a changing society, they found inspiration in their personal and cultural contexts. Frequently, they focused on the underlying causes of immigration or migration and depicted themes of exile and alienation. Others chose to represent their new surroundings, for better or worse, addressing concerns such as racism, poverty, and social injustice. Artistic styles also varied. Whereas many worked in a figurative mode to better convey social or political messages, modernist art by European immigrants such as László Moholy-Nagy also played a major role.
Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition Schedule:
The Art Institute of Chicago(03/03/13–06/02/13)
Copies
No copies available.