ED 686 History of American Art Georgia O’Keeffe American Artist Presentation by Maribeth Stover

Georgia O’Keeffe American Artist Field of Painting American Modernism Movement

Georgia O’Keeffe No. 13 Special No. 13 Special 1916/1917 Charcoal on paper 24 1/2x19 in. Early in 1916, Anita Pollitzer took several of Georgia’s charcoal drawings to Slieglitz for him to view. Upon viewing the works, Stieglitz made the now well-noted comment, “Finally a woman on paper!”. O’Keeffe’s first solo show was in 1917.

Georgia O’Keeffe Blue and Green Music Blue and Green Music 1921 Oil on canvas 23x19 in. In the mid-1920’s, O’Keeffe began making large-scale paintings of natural forms at close range, as if seen through a magnifying glass.

Georgia O’Keeffe Red Canna Red Canna c Oil on canvas mounted on masonite The abstraction of form and color in her close up views of flowers, she said, was to make people pay attention.

Georgia O’Keeffe Pansy Pansy 1926 Oil on canvas 26 15/16x12 1/16 in. O’Keeffe painted flowers as they had never been seen before

Georgia O’Keeffe Poppy Poppy 1927 Oil on canvas, 30x36 in. It can be argued that O’Keeffe has made the brilliant red poppy the most famous single flower in America, perhaps the most famous flower in the Western world.

O’Keeffe Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue 1931 Oil on canvas 39 7/8x35 7/8 in. During the period of time from 1929 and 1949, O’Keeffe would spend part of nearly every year working in New Mexico. She began collecting and painting bones, as well as the distinctive landscape of the area.

O’Keeffe Ram’s Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills Ram’s Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills 1935 Oil on canvas O’Keeffe’s skulls were extraordinary objects in and of themselves. She studied flowers, shells and bones as nature’s objects of art-and painted them as her own.

O’Keeffe Ram’s Skull with Brown Leaves Ram’s Skull with Brown Leaves 1936 Oil on canvas, 30x36 in. O’Keeffe’s reputation and popularity continued to grow, earning her numerous commissions. Her work was included in exhibitions in and around New York.

O’Keeffe Pelvis with the Distance Pelvis with the Distance 1943 Oil on canvas 223 7/8x29 ¾ in. O’Keeffe referred to the vast New Mexico desert as “the faraway” because the thin and dry air allowed her to see for miles and miles.

O’Keeffe Deer’s Skull With Perdernal The Pedernal was a flat-topped messa that she painted repeatedly, constantly changing her perspective and her palette. “…I had to create an equivalent for what I felt about what I was looking at…not copy it.” “It is my private mountain,” she explained.

O’Keeffe Red Hills, Grey Sky Red Hills, Grey Sky 1935 Oil on canvas,14x20 in. When American artists of the nineteenth century claimed independence in their art, they did so by heroicising the great, newly explored, wild American landscape. O’Keeffe painted some her pictures as abstracts.

O’Keeffe Cebolla Church Cebolla Church 1945 Oil on canvas,20x36 1/8 in. In 1945, O’Keeffe bought a second home in Abiquiu, New Mexico. The area near her home became the setting for many later paintings.

O’Keeffe Red Hills with White Shell, 1938Jimson weed, 1936 Georgia O’Keeffe looked at a few objects in nature with unusually intense concentration: flowers, shells and animal skeletons among them.

Georgia O’Keeffe O’Keefe was a major influence in American art from the 1920’s. She received recognition for contributions as a painter, as well as challenging the boundaries of modern American artistic style. O’Keeffe was inspired by nature and she often transformed her subject matter into abstract and representational images. Another Church, Hernandez, New Mexico 1935, Oil on canvas