Florine Stettheimer: A Biography

"A 1963 biography of the painter Florine Stettheimer contributed greatly to the impression that she was a 'cloistered spinster' whose work was too frivolously ornamental to be taken seriously or regularly exhibited. Bloemink's newly published biography serves as a necessary corrective: For starters, the artist was a dedicated feminist who actually enjoyed single life. The writer also excavates Stettheimer's impact as a progressive thinker whose paintings challenged the societal norms of racism and antisemitism, and highlights the monumentality of her work, both in terms of its scale and its grand themes such as American patriotism and women's independence."-- "T, The New York Times Style Magazine"

"Bloemink is again making the case for Stettheimer as a fascinating, and crucial, figure of art history, one deserving a place in the pantheon of American modernists. In a hefty new biography, Stettheimer's life and work--which, in addition to her paintings, include acerbic poems, ornate furniture and frames, and costumes and set designs--unfold in unprecedented detail."-- "Vogue"

"Bloemink's thorough, engaging book is the first comprehensive biography and full reading of Stettheimer's paintings, and gives the artist the attention she has long deserved. The author explores the ways that Stettheimer's life circumstances and social circle shaped her highly original art, which blended sly humor and private pleasures with socially and politically minded messages about the world at large."-- "Hyperallergic"

"Enlightening. . . . In this comprehensive study of the artist's life and work, Stettheimer scholar Barbara Bloemink expands on her 1995 biography, championing the painter's contributions to Modern art as original and feminist. Bloemink argues that her work has been read superficially until now. She elucidates the historic context for Stettheimer's paintings, aiding readers to look beyond the seductively decorative surfaces to see subversive depths. "-- "The Art Newspaper"

Considered the expert scholar on Florine Stettheimer’s work, Barbara Bloemink has written extensively on her and co-curated the artist’s 1995 Whitney Museum Retrospective. Formerly the director and chief of five art museums including the Smithsonian’s National Design Museum and Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, she has curated over 70 exhibitions, published extensively, lectured and taught internationally on art and design. She received a Ph.D. from Yale University.