Scope and Content Note
The papers of Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) and Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) span the years from 1929 to 1947 with the bulk of the material dating from 1935 to 1946. The majority of the collection consists of handwritten letters by Georgia O'Keeffe and her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, to their friend and colleague, filmmaker Henwar Rodakiewicz (1902-1976). Also included in the collection are a few items of printed and typed miscellany. The letters are written in English and organized by correspondent and therein chronologically. Many of the letters were not dated when written. Dates were supplied by the seller and donor, Susan Todd, using resources of the Alfred Stieglitz Archive at the Yale Collection of American Literature in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University and the Archive and Library of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dates on the letters written in pencil and in green ink were made by Rodakiewicz.
The O'Keeffe letters include descriptions of landscapes in New Mexico, Manhattan and Lake George, New York, the Bahamas, and other locations. Also documented in the correspondence is her relationship with Stieglitz and their life in New York, her illnesses, her artistic career (including a mention of a big flower painting for Elizabeth Arden, letter of May 1936), her travels, and references to art works by her. Some of the individuals mentioned in the letters are photographers Ansel Adams and Paul Strand; set designer Norman Bel Geddes; Margaret ("Peggy") Bok, second wife of Rodakiewicz; and Arthur Newton Pack, American naturalist, writer, and owner of Ghost Ranch, near Abiquiu, New Mexico. A significant portion of the 1940s correspondence is written from Ghost Ranch where O'Keeffe lived and painted for several months at a time during those years.
The Stieglitz letters discuss the art and museum culture of New York City, the management of Stieglitz's gallery, An American Place, and personal matters, such as O'Keeffe's recovery from a nervous breakdown and descriptions of Stieglitz's health. Also referenced in the letters are some of Rodakiewicz's films and film projects, the relationship between Rodakiewicz and Peggy Bok, and mentions of mutual acquaintances, friends, and work colleagues: Marie Tudor Garland (Rodakiewicz's first wife), Dorothy Brett, Frieda Lawrence, Mabel Dodge Luhan, John Marin and Rebecca Salsbury James (formerly Rebecca Strand). Most of the letters are written from Stieglitz's gallery, An American Place, and his and O'Keeffe's country home at Lake George, New York. The Stieglitz correspondence includes transcriptions for each letter with the transcription filed before each original letter.
The miscellany, 1933, 1940-1941, consists mainly of printed and typed items relating to exhibitions at An American Place, featuring O'Keeffe, Stieglitz, John Marin, Arthur Garfield Dove, and Pablo Picasso. Also filed in miscellany is a print advertisement for Dorothy Norman's Dualities, An American Place publication number 2.