Accendo la mia luce e divento me stessa. Florine Stettheimer

Three sisters, a building, many friends, a legendary lifestyle, many paintings and a performance. This book travels into the essence of Jazz Age New York through the life of Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944). An artist with a history made up of opposites, between America and Europe, the search for success and setbacks in making a work out of her talent, which mocked the prejudices of the time on gender, sex, and social class. “She was perfectly consistent with her every inconsistency,” Georgia O’Keeffe said of her. How can we blame her?

The volume is issued in the OILÀ collection, edited by Chiara Alessi, which presents the stories of women who were prominent in the twentieth century. Women on the Italian and international creative scene (ranging from design to fashion, architecture, music, illustration, graphics, photography and literature), who were outstanding in fields and professions that have invariably been considered the prerogative of men. The books, devised to be read aloud from beginning to end in forty-five minutes – a brief overview – are stories of people presented through a special focus on their biographies, works, private lives and public achievements.

The graphic design is by Studio Sonnoli.