Foursome: Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul Strand, Rebecca Salsbury

These four people heavily influenced American art in the 20th century. Three of them deserve their own biographies where they can stand out and not this somewhat clunky book where it tries to put these four–Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul Strand, and Rebecca Salsbury–into one moment in art history in New York City, 1921. When Stieglitz was at his height, O’Keeffe was a young lady and Paul Strand was learning from the master. We learn a lot about what was happening in art and the major trends, factions, groups, and fractures within it. However, this book is made less effective by the many books that try to do the same thing. By focusing on multiple giants, and on one specific year, you get spread too thin and spend too much time having to explain what happened before that the fateful year, which is underwhelming. By having to focus on so many great artists, it feels as if no one receives their due and that everything is rushed over. This would have been much better if it had just focused on either Stieglitz or O’Keeffe; the other two are not as important in this book, which is a shame.