ABSTRACT
It is admittedly difficult to reconcile the style and subject matter of Florine Stettheimer with conventional notions of a socially conscious art. On the simplest level of historical awareness and political conviction, there is Florine Stettheimer's lifelong admiration for America and Americanness: her own kind of patriotism. Although Stettheimer can hardly be counted among the ranks of notable activists in the cause of racial equality, it is nevertheless true that black people figured quite regularly in her work, from the time of Jenny and Genevieve of about 1915 to that of Four Saints in Three Acts, the Gertrude Stein-Virgil Thomson opera for which she designed the sets and costumes in 1934. Florine Stettheimer, the artist, existed in this world, it is true, but still somewhat apart from it—as her painting exists apart from the major currents of her time.
