Through the Long Desert: Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright

A richly illustrated exploration of newfound connections between American cultural icons Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright. This groundbreaking volume places the artist and architect side by side, shedding light on their lives, work, and mutual love of the American desert.

Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright were neither competitors nor direct collaborators. Yet these romantic heroes of twentieth-century art and architecture largely operated in parallel. In this seminal book, Rovang weaves together their compelling life stories, examining newly discovered links between them and, in the process, offering a fresh perspective on their work, their intermittent yet poignant friendship, and their closeness to the desert. 

Starting in 1933, O’Keeffe and Wright exchanged roughly two dozen letters in which they expressed admiration for one another but also their passion for the places that informed them--many of which they had in common. Both were born in rural Wisconsin and built their careers in Chicago and New York. However, both sought inspiration and fulfillment in places farther afield, including in Japan and the desert landscape of the American Southwest. Juxtaposing images highlighting shared aspects of their individual biographies and work, this unique take on American creative expression explores the nature of artistic friendship and the idea of ＂home.＂ Rovang’s text gives rich context to the allure and romance of her visual subject, offering readers new ways to appreciate O’Keeffe’s and Wright’s monumental contributions to American culture.  

Sarah Rovang is an architectural historian based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.