Georgia O'Keeffe

“I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.” – Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe

Before the twentieth century, talented women artists were kept hidden behind a male dominating figure, such as their husbands or fathers. Even though women artists were not recognized for their work, their passion was always there. It was evident that most women artists outshined the men, however, women had to give their husbands credit for their work. Women were consistently discriminated, but that didn't stop them from wanting to change the world – change art. There was a turn in the twentieth century when women were finally given more freedom. Opportunities such as given the right to vote, gave hope to women that they were given more possibilities. They took their chances that were never given to them before and expressed it into their own terms. “With more freedom, more women have become artists” (Guerilla Girls, )

One of the few 20^th century women artists who was internationally known for her boldly innovative art was Georgia O’Keeffe. She was an American icon of the twentieth century. In her career, O’Keeffe produced more than a thousand paintings of landscapes, cityscapes, and various flowers. Georgia was born in Wisconsin and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the New York Art Student’s League. The turning point in Georgia’s life was in 1915, when she destroyed her existing paintings and started creating paintings of abstractionism. Georgia, “and other women Abstract Expressionists were well aware of the operations of sexual difference within artistic practice” … and, “confronted the widely held view that women couldn’t paint” (Chadwick 323). In 1916, Georgia was discovered by a well-known New York photographer named Alfred Stieglitz. He was an avid supporter of modernism which was a style of art that went against the established norms. Stieglitz promoted and exhibited some of O’Keeffe’s abstract drawing. Because she joined a National Women’s Party in New York, “feminists love Georgia because she did unabashedly female work and because she made it in the art world with the big boys” (Guerilla Girls, 75).

New York Skylines

Georgia O'Keeffe shifted artistic trends by painting “flowers, animal bones, and landscapes around her studios in Lake George, New York, and New Mexico, and these subjects became her signature images.” One Stieglitz and O'Keeffe were married they moved into the Shelton Hotel with the view of the New York skyline. This is where O'Keeffe was recognized as a well-known painter of New York skyscrapers in the mid-1920s. Stieglitz played a significant role in getting O’Keeffe’s works in galleries. Her works were exhibited at The Anderson Galleries from 1923 to 1925; and later at the Intimate Gallery from 1925 to 1929; and finally at An American Place from 1929 until Stieglitz’s death in 1946.

In the summer of 1929, Georgia spent most of her time in northern New Mexico. She fell in love with the place and spent two decades living and working there. Three years after Stieglitz’s death, Georgia made New Mexico her permanent home. She painted the surrounding landscapes, the Hispanic churches, and the lands sacred to the people of Taos Pueblo. By moving to New Mexico, “she created enchanting visual experiences for her viewers in paintings like Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory (1938), and Untitled (Red and Yellow Cliffs) (1940).” Her paintings of New Mexico scenes have become iconic contributions to American Modernism.

Blue Morning Glory, 1938

Ram's Head

"The men like to put me down as the best woman painter. I think I'm one of the best painters." - Georgia O'Keeffe 

After her husband’s death and her move to New Mexico, O’Keeffe began to travel internationally. She visited places such as the mountain peaks of Peru and Japan’s Mount Fuji. Being able to travel so much, she was able to paint her views from the airplanes.

Below is the painting she created Sky Above the Clouds IV (1965). It is her largest painting at 8 x 24 feet.

Sky Above the Clouds IV, 1965

After living to be almost one hundred years old, Georgia’s portfolio was compiled of her large, “sensuous close ups of flowers and stark renditions of skulls.” In her later life, Georgia’s eyesight failed but it did not diminish her will to keep creating. Until 1982, she worked in watercolor and pencil and produced objects in clay. She was encouraged by her friends to continue her techniques with her vivid imagination. On March 6, 1986 she died in Santa Fe at the age of 98. To this day, her work can be seen in museums around the world. There is also a special museum dedicated to her called the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Works Cited:

"Biography." Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.
"Georgia O'Keeffe." Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.

"World Biography." Georgia O'Keeffe Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.