Georgia O’Keeffe

Born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin in 1887, Georgia O’Keeffe was the first daughter of a large

family of farmers. At an early age she decided she wanted to be an artist; she was taught by

a watercolour artist, Sara Mann, to paint while she was still a child. From 1905, after

finishing her high school studies in Virginia she studied at various art schools: the Art

Institute of Chicago School, the Art Students League of New York, the University of

Virginia and Columbia University's Teachers College in New York. She worked as a

teacher from 1911 to 1918.

During her years as teacher she produced some of her early charcoal drawings that

led her art to a new direction. Her art became much more abstract1 and in 1916 Alfred

Stieglitz exhibited some of her drawings. He gave her artistic and financial support and

they married in 1924. Thanks to this she became one of the most renowned American

artists, along with Paul Strand and Edward Steichen, for example.

In 1929 she visited New Mexico, where she found new inspiration for her paintings

in the natural wonders of the place. She used to go and paint for most part of the year and

returned to New York for the exhibitions held during the winter. In 1949, after her

husband’s death, she finally decided to live in New Mexico. In 1972 she was diagnosed

with macular degeneration, which affected her central vision, making it difficult for her to

paint without assistance. She died on March 6, 1986 in Santa Fe.

Her works include “abstractions, large-scale depictions of flowers, leaves, rocks,

shells, bones and other natural forms, New York cityscapes and paintings of the unusual

shapes and colors of architectural and landscape forms of northern New Mexico.”2 One of

the distinctive aspects of her paintings is the brilliant colors of the palette that “ranges from

subtle modulations in tone to raucous, unusual contrasts”3, especially in her paintings of

flowers, of which she painted a lot during her years in New Mexico.

1 Messinger, Lisa. “Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)” Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2 Anonymous. “Museum History” Okeeffe Museum. 3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Fall 1984.

Bibliography

Messinger, Lisa. “Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)” Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. «http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/geok/hd_geok.htm»

Okeeffe Museum. “Museum History” «http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/history.html»

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. Fall 1984. PDF

Paintings

Natural and still life: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/natural-and-still-life-forms.html