One of the main figures among the artists of the avant-gardes was Gertrude Stein (1874 –1946). Born in America, the writer spent most of her life in France where became a catalyst (catalizzatore) in the development (sviluppo) of modern art and literature. Her works, considered hallmarks (emblemi) of the 20th century literature, include Three Lives (1909), Tender buttons: objects, food, rooms(1914), Four Saints in Three Acts (libretto, 1929: music by Virgil Thomson, 1934), The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933), Picasso(1938), Reflections on the Atom Bomb (1946) and Alphabets and Birthdays(1957). Three Lives was Gertrude Stein’s first published work. It consists of three tales (racconti) – The Good Anna, Melanctha, and The Gentle Lena – which tell about independent stories all set in the fictional (inventata) town of Bridgepoint. Melanctha, in particular, is an unconventional novella (romanzo breve) that focuses (che si incentra) upon the distinctions and combinations of race, sex, gender (genere), and female physical condition. The character of Melanctha represents the internal emotional struggles (lotte) to find a meaning (significato) in a tumultuous world. [
image: Gertrude Stein by Pablo Picasso ]