Woman of the Week: Georgia O’Keeffe
written by Rachel W.
Georgia O’Keeffe was a 20th century artist who was most famous for her paintings of flowers and cityscapes. Born on November 15, 1877, O’Keeffe grew up on a farm in Wisconsin. Her family encourage her to go to school, and therefore she attended the Art Institute in Chicago from 1905-1906. She learned techniques of the traditional realism style of art; however, after studying the works of Arthur Wesley Dow in 1912, her painting style changed drastically.
After a former classmate sent O’Keeffe’s work to Alfred Stieglitz, a gallery owner in New York City, the two began communicating through letters. When Stieglitz began exhibiting O’Keeffe’s work in his studio, she traveled to New York. Though Stieglitz was married at the time, the two fell in love (Stieglitz would later divorce his wife to marry O’Keeffe). This was the push O’Keeffe needed to pursue art as her career.
During the 30’s and 40s, O’Keeffe gained popularity and became the first woman to have a retrospective (gallery featuring life’s work) at the Museum of Modern Art. She had already started painting close-ups and had started incorporating the landscape of New Mexico into her paintings. After Stieglitz’s death, she moved to New Mexico permanently, but traveled often for inspiration.
Georgia O’Keeffe painted until the 70’s, even after her eyesight started failing and she needed assistance to work. She contributed much to the development of American modernism, which sought to represent the modern world in a clearer way. O’Keefe also became an inspiration to female artists, as her work was an important part of the Feminist art movement. In total, she produced over 2,000 paintings, which continue to inspire artists today.
Here are some of her works!
