Meet FLORINE STETTHEIMER... Artist Ahead of Her Time

Holiday House/NEAL PORTER BOOKS
2024

One artist ahead of her time was Florine Stettheimer, but then many artists are ahead of their times. I found, though, that this particular artist, previously unknown to me (despite my effort to be reasonably informed about artists of the twentieth century), was fascinating. A PARTY FOR FLORINE: FLORINE STETTHEIMER AND ME is the creation of another artist, author/illustrator Yevgenia Nayberg. 

The illustration style and the first person narrator are both an homage to Stettheimer and a reflection  of Nayberg's own artistic style. 

A short note in back reveals that even though an  accomplished and acclaimed artist such as she is, Nayberg found that Florine was a new experience and one she welcomed. 

In the text, a young girl sees a face, an image very much like herself, in a self-portrait by Stettheimer. The girl and the subject in the self-portrait were both artists, and the young observer commits to learning more. That storyline reveals Stettheimer's life story as shared within the remaining narration. 

Florine's life was one of means, one of intellectual pursuits, one surrounded by other remarkable women and intellectual discussions. When women were bound into corsets and equally so by social expectations and even demands, Florine had the luxury of expressing herself freely. She did so in her clothing choices and activities. Her art is expressionist in that there is realism in many elements and colors, but proportion, angle, position, and subject matter all reflect an almost dreamlike quality to her work. 

When I explored Nayberg's body of work, I detected many parallels in style, color, and perspective between their styles. That, too, must have been a bit of a startling recognition to the picture book creator. I particularly enjoyed learning in the author note that this unexpected introduction came to the artist as an adult, but the the story is well-crafted around the emotional journey of a young girl observer, who compares Florine's liberated, self-affirming life to her own young misery on gray rainy days and with nothing "exciting" happening to her. The line was never written but several of the girl's expressions called to mind a refrain any parent will recognize... "I'm bored!"

In fact, though, this narrator comes to realize her own agency, her ability to see the world around her through whatever lens invites creativity and joy and delight. Stettheimer proactively rejected the directives in her expensive art instructions from prestigious institutions and opted to interpret a recto-linear world with curves and tilts and graceful exaggeration. This is evident in examples you can view online. This recognition by the girl of her  own power removes the oppressive rainy filters and ignites joy. 

As much as this might feel like an adult-centric biography, the young narrator's emotional journey makes it well-suited to young readers, too. In fact, very young "artists" often ignore efforts to reproduce what they "see" on a page in favor of colorful, movement-infused, joyful art. Perhaps Florine's seemingly sophisticated talent was really her openness to expressing the world without rules, as children so often do. 

I urge you to take a look at this lovely new offering to meet Florine for yourselves. Please note that front and back endpapers reproduce the four pieces from her CATHEDRAL OF NEW YORK series, one she was working on until a few weeks before her death. The contagious joy they reveal invite you to join her at the party that was her life.

Meet SOPHIE KOWALEVSKI, Queen of Mathematics

I have always found math to be easy, intuitive, and even fun. Don't take that as bragging, since it is the sheer (and lucky) consequence of good genes. I was born to parents who were very bright and raised with older siblings (also bright) whose headstart on life I often resented. Their activities presented a constant challenge for me to figure out whatever they were doing and match them, including card games, rote memorizing of "times tables", etc. It matters, too, that I never heard complaints among them that "math is HARD". 

Creston Books, 2020

Even so, I was in awe of the subject of this narrative biography for older readers.  NUMBERS IN MOTION: Sophie Kowalevski, Queen of Mathematics is among the latest of author Laurie Wallmark's  WOMEN IN STEM series, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg. Sophie, too, had both nature-and-nurture benefits, raised by a father who was a professor of mathematics in a household with complex formulas plastered across her bedroom walls. 

The story behind that situation offers both humor and irony. When her father ran out of wallpaper for her bedroom, he pasted his old college notebook pages onto the blank spaces. Young Sophia's elastic and expansive mind absorbed the language of those formulas as readily as children in bilingual homes become fluent in both. She traced formulas, identified patterns and symbols, creating her own versions of mathematical stories. But her life was lived during an era in which females were rarely taught academics beyond those needed to run a household. Certainly not advanced mathematics.

Sophie's insatiable curiosity while still a child resulted in self-study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and, eventually, the complex challenges of differential equations. Everything in her life raised questions that she was certain could be resolved by mathematics, including the patterns of a spinning top. The fact that such solutions seemed impossible only fueled her efforts. 

Sophie's undeniable  brilliance and determination earned her advocates from among her father's colleagues. Eventually, male professors and authorities bent or defied the rules that banned females from attending university classes, or gaining a doctoral degree, or becoming a professor. The social and political restraints of her time were more challenging than mathematical ones, but they, too, could be solved.

This biography manages a delicate balance of focusing mainly on Sophie's adult experiences with minimal time spent on the subject's childhood. In this case, those limited spreads of Sophie as a child, both in narrative and images, will hook young readers. What could possibly earn more empathy from a kid than being told NO to what you want most in the world? And Sophie was told NO throughout her life, including the laws that prevented women from leaving Russia unless permitted to do so by a father or husband. She was determined to reach Heidelberg University in Germany, the European center for mathematical studies. How she overcame those and other obstacles are sometimes jaw-dropping solutions, leading me to cheer her on and smirk in satisfaction with each page turn.

Wallmark's research is incredibly deep, and her expertise in deciding what to include is equally deft. The author's note is a valuable read, as is a page labeled "Sophie's math". Sophie is credited with solving many ageless math mysteries, including one labeled the mermaid puzzle, because finding an answer was thought to be as elusive as finding a mermaid. Backmatter also includes a timeline, a bibliography, and a full page explanation about how and why Wallmark chose the spelling she did for her subject's name. I'll echo the author's hope that everyone will read this page, since it addresses an authoring-puzzle. Translation from other languages is an art form of its own, but when it comes to spelling names that originated in other alphabets, how can one choose and feel validated about that choice? This solution will surprise you, and also indicate how thoroughly Wallmark does her homework.

This is a book I wish had existed when I was growing up, a time when my library choices were minimal and few books held surprises or role models like this one does. The idea that the investigation of mathematical theories  was a potential career option never occurred to me. I suspect it never occurred to my teachers, either, even though the field obviously existed for centuries. Unlike Sophie, my drive was toward human puzzles and services. I harbored an ever-since-kindergarten-rules resentment of gender restrictions that would have made Sophie a personal hero. Throughout my long career in education I could have shared her story, raising her banner for curiosity, independence, and drive. I would have honored her personal motto for ALL of my students, but especially for girls: 

"SAY WHAT YOU KNOW, DO WHAT YOU MUST, COME WHAT MAY."

Laurie Wallmark had agreed to respond to some interview questions in a future post that will include the other titles in her series, especially the upcoming CODE BREAKER, SPY HUNTER: HOW ELIZEBETH FRIEDMAN CHANGED THE COURSE OF TWO WORLD WARS  (Abrams Kids, 2021) Until then, you can learn more about the "story behind the story" from other interviews about this book by reading her other blog tour interviews linked HERE.

And now, a PSA from this teacher to adults:

Even if your own life experience has been that "math is hard for me", PLEASE don't say that aloud in the presence of kids. Many adults are feeling frustrated or confused while supporting kids in distance learning or home schooling, but please start with an attitude that ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND, even when they are challenging. In a time with YouTube tutorials and countless other digital resources, dive in and struggle alongside the kids to make sense whenever possible. Or simply model asking questions and seeking help. A message that "some people" just aren't good at math is one of the most limiting messages you could send, especially it comes from adults who those kids love and admire. It is a pass to stop thinking, and gives your approval for not trying.

Sermon over.