Georgia OKeeffe

Born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin in 1887, Georgia OKeeffe 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 abstract 1 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
husbands 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

1 Messinger, Lisa. Georgia O'Keeffe (18871986) Department of Modern and

Contemporary Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2 Anonymous. Museum History Okeeffe Museum.

subtle modulations in tone to raucous, unusual contrasts3, especially in her paintings of

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

Bibliography
Messinger, Lisa. Georgia O'Keeffe (18871986) 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

3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Fall 1984.