Georgia O’Keefe Museum
Santa Fe, NM
Written by Cathy Breslaw
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| Georgia O'Keefe Black Holyhock Blue Larkspur oil on canvas 1930 |
Visiting the Georgia O’Keefe
Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico is an opportunity to experience the work and
career of one of the most significant American artists of the twentieth
century. In one of her writings, O’Keefe
(1887-1986) stated: “Colors and shapes
make a more definite statement than words” and her work consistently
expresses this notion whether it be the abstractions of the New York skyscrapers
of her early career or on toward the later part of her career and life
expressing the exquisite beauty of the mountains, flowers and natural world in
New Mexico. Though she is known for her
large scale flower paintings, O’Keefe’s work is much broader and focused on
abstractions of the natural world that are a distillation of shapes, forms and
colors that evoke a strong sense of place and reveal the impact that her
immediate environment had on her and in cultivating her art practice. O’Keefe’s life is the story of a woman artist
driven to create and forge her own
interpretations of the world around her, living life on her own terms, creating
abstracted landscapes inspired by nature.
Her prolific works of oil paintings, sculptures, watercolors and
drawings are presented in the museum’s intimate galleries, each representing a
period of her work, along with a video exploring her life. The museum also
includes educational programs, workshops, and coordinated visits to Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu,
O’Keefe’s home and studio.
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| Tony Vaccaro Georgia O'Keefe with "Pelvis Series, Red and Yellow Chromagenic Print 1960 |
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| Georgia O'Keefe Red Maple Oil on Canvas 1922 |
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| Georgia O'Keefe Horse's Skull with White Rose Oil on Canvas 1931 |
