I'M NOT YOUR MUSE

Remembering notable women.

As the partner of an artist who too often is considered to be only his muse, Zimmer brings her own frustration to portraits of 31 women whose life’s work has been slighted because of their association with someone more famous. “It is by her contributions to a man’s genius,” Zimmer attests, “that the writers of history have chosen to define her.” The women Zimmer celebrates come from the worlds of visual and performing arts, music, literature, journalism, architecture, and design. Most were born in the late 19th century, in Europe or America, with a few from Asia. Zimmer argues convincingly that some have been ignored in favor of more celebrated men: war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, overshadowed by Ernest Hemingway, with whom she was briefly married; Lucia Moholy, photographer of the Bauhaus, slighted in favor of Walter Gropius; Clara Driscoll, designer of Tiffany lamps, whose contributions were subsumed under the imprimatur of Louis Tiffany. Others, though, drew on the relationships in their own creative work: Fernande Olivier, an artist’s model and most famously Picasso’s lover, went on to become a writer—of memoirs about her life with Picasso. After Gertrude Stein died, her companion Alice B. Toklas wrote a cookbook and memoir peppered with spicy anecdotes about Stein and their friends. Maria Tallchief, a Native American ballet dancer, inspired George Balanchine, but she was famous, too: a star, not an acolyte. Overall, Zimmer revives the reputations of dozens of interesting women, among them, Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian, who shaped the holdings of the Morgan Library; Louise Blanchard Bethune, the first American woman professional architect; Korean feminist poet Na Hye-Sok; and pioneer Sri Lankan architect Minnette de Silva. Illustrated by Krasinski, the volume attests to women’s laudable talents and achievements.

An entertaining homage.