Georgia O'Keeffe (Ann Niou)

Georgia O'Keeffe is an American artist who is renowned for her innovative art style, bringing global attention to American art. After seeing images of her work, I was immediately drawn to how powerful emotions are expressed through the seemingly simplistic images.

O'Keeffe was born on November 15, 1887 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and became engaged in art at a young age. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League in New York City, and the Teachers College of Columbia University in South Carolina. Influenced by artist Arthur Dow to discover her own direction in the world of art, O'Keeffe focused on producing abstract charcoal drawings that investigated the contrast between light and dark. These charcoal drawings jumpstarted her career as an artist.

Charcoal Drawing XIII, 1915

(http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/50.236.2)

Banana Flower

(http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:AD:E:4360&page_number=9&template_id=1&sort_order=1)

During the 1920s, O'Keeffe moved to New York City and made many large-scale and close-up oil paintings of nature. Utilizing her knowledge about photography, she focused on representational paintings of flowers. The emotion and energy she was able to portray in the recognizable forms that she painted are what made her work so famous and enthralling. The simple flowers that she so often drew captured the raw beauty of nature. Her art during this period can be closely tied to Cubist Realism. While her subjects are depicted realistically, the focus on the shape and forms of the object.

Abstraction White Rose II (1927)

(http://www.thestandingroom.com/blog/2005/08/santa_fe_reacti_1.html)

I especially like Abstraction White Rose II (1927). The contours of the flower petals are defined beautifully. The contrast and limited range of colors work together to produce a powerful image.

Red Canna (1923)

(http://www.michelangelo.com/okeeffe/index-ns.html)

When O'Keeffe moved to New Mexico in the 1940s, she began to produce many highly simplified abstractions of the landscape. Taking on a Modern style of art, this simplification allowed her to explore her interest in expression through her art and less on realistic representations.

Orange and red streak (1919)

(http://landscapes.indigenousknowledge.org/exhibit-1/2)

Black Mesa Landscape

(http://strelitziamusings.blogspot.com/)

References:

"Her Art." - Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. .

Moss, Karen, Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Pierce. Illumination: the Paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Miller Pierce. London: Merrell, 2009. Print.

O'Keeffe, Georgia, Barbara Haskell, and Sasha Nicholas. Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction. New Haven: Yale UP, 2009. Print.

O'Keeffe, Georgia, Richard Marshall, Yvonne Scott, and Oliva Achille. Bonito. Georgia O'Keeffe: Nature and Abstraction. Milano, Italy: Skira, 2007. Print.