How to see more and care less: The art of Georgia O'Keeffe - Iseult Gillespie
A canvas drenched in sunset hues,
colors radiating like flame.
At first glance, this painting may appear
to be an impossible, abstract image.
But a closer look reveals
the tender stems,
lush petals and velvety texture
of a Canna Lily.
This metamorphosis of natural subjects
into abstract geometry
is commonplace in the work
of Georgia O’Keeffe—
the revolutionary American painter
and sculptor.
But the magic behind
this transformation remains
just as elusive as the artist herself.
Born in Wisconsin in 1887, O’Keeffe spent
her childhood plucking wildflowers
and arranging fruits to paint.
At seventeen, she moved to Chicago
to study at the prestigious Art Institute.
Her teachers trained her
to faithfully reproduce reality
in the conventions of European masters.
Although she enjoyed the solitude
and precision of this work,
O’Keeffe felt little
personal connection to it.
After moving to New York, she was
increasingly drawn to the clean lines,
striking composition and vivid colors
of Japanese art.
O’Keeffe soon found a teacher
whose lessons inspired her
to put those interests into practice.
Unlike her previous teachers,
Arthur Wesley Dow urged his students
to focus on more abstract representations
of light, shape, and color.
These lessons manifested in O’Keeffe’s
first series of abstract drawings.
Rendered in charcoal, they present
a series of undulating lines,
bold shading and billowing clouds.
These drawings defy easy classification—
suggesting, but never quite matching,
any specific natural reference.
Earlier European painters
in the Cubist tradition
had employed rigid geometry
to abstract external subjects.
But here, O’Keeffe employed
the shapes and rhythms of nature
to capture her internal feelings.
Experiments like these
would soon become a cornerstone
of an artistic movement
called American Modernism.
Although no single style defines
Modernist painting,
its proponents shared a desire
to challenge the realist traditions
that dominated art education.
Beginning in the late 1910’s,
Modernist painting
often used geometric shapes
and bold colors
to probe the American psyche.
O’Keeffe threw herself
into these experiments —
but she was reluctant
to share her new work.
However, when a friend sent her charcoals
to the art dealer Alfred Stieglitz,
he became entranced.
In 1916, he arranged
for a grand exhibition in New York.
This marked the beginning of O’Keeffe’s
career as a popular artist—
and a relationship that would lead
to marriage in 1924.
Marriage didn’t diminish O’Keeffe’s
taste for solitude.
She travelled widely to teach,
and often retreated to paint
for months at a time.
Whether she was exploring
the craggy canyons of Texas,
the quiet forests of South Carolina,
or the sun-bleached desert of New Mexico,
her creative process was based on
ritual and close observation.
She paid meticulous attention
to small details,
and spent hours mixing paints
to create exactly the right colors.
When she found the perfect hue,
she’d record it
in her ever-growing collection
of handmade color cards.
O’Keeffe also experimented
with perspective to celebrate objects
that were often overlooked.
In "Rams Head with Hollyhock,"
she places a weathered skull
and a delicate flower
high above the hills below.
This massive skull overshadows
the landscape,
casting both the skeleton
and the mountains in a new, eerie light.
The public was captivated by her
unique perspective and secretive behavior.
She was particularly praised
for her massive flower paintings,
ranging from fiery poppies
to ghostly calla lillies.
Stieglitz and other critics of the time
were infatuated by Freudian psychology,
and were quick to link these paintings
to female genitalia.
But O’Keeffe dismissed
such interpretations.
She resented the male gaze
that dominated the art world,
and demanded her work be respected
for its emotional evocation
of the natural world.
Eventually, O’Keeffe settled down
in New Mexico,
near one of her favorite artist retreats.
In her 70’s, her eyesight began to fail,
but she continued to mine the landscape’s
mysteries in new, tactile mediums.
O’Keeffe kept creating
until her death at 98,
and is remembered as
the “Mother of American Modernism.”
Decades on, her work retains
its wild energy—
and O’Keeffe her personal mystique.
