The Company Gloria Steinem Kept in the Studio

Long before she was known chiefly as an organizer, Gloria Steinem moved through the art world as a roommate, a mentor, and, on at least one occasion, a visitor turned away at the door. She shared living quarters with painter Barbara Nessim, a friendship that placed her inside a working artist's daily practice rather than at its edges. She later took on a mentoring role with a young Annie Leibovitz, then still building the eye that would define her photography. Not every call was answered warmly: Georgia O'Keeffe once declined to receive her. Taken together, the account traces a life that ran alongside painters and photographers as much as alongside the causes she is best remembered for.

With reporting from ARTnews.