The Art Gallery of Ontario unveils a brand new exhibition of the iconic, American painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) on Saturday, April 22. Georgia O'Keeffe features over 100 paintings by one of the 20th century’s most successful and influential modernists and runs until July 30, 2017.
O'Keeffe was born in 1887 on a dairy farm to immigrant parents. Her childhood on the prairie shaped the way she viewed nature. O'Keeffe decided to become an artist when she was 12 years old and the retrospective exhibition is broken up into different sections, highlighting various stages of O'Keefe's work and life.
Georgia O'Keeffe begins with examples of her first abstractions and some of her early work from 1916 and 1917 in New York. O’Keeffe drew inspiration from nature to express ideas and emotions. Early critics attributed essential feminine qualities to her work, often hinting heavily at erotic content. "When people read erotic symbols into my paintings, they’re really talking about their own affairs," O’Keeffe responded.
The next part of the exhibit focuses on O'Keeffe's move to New York City and creative partnership with Alfred Stieglitz (which lead to their marriage in 1924). On painting New York City, O'Keeffe said, "Of course, I was told it was an impossible idea – even the men hadn’t done too well with it."
There is also a section of the exhibition dedicated to photographs of O'Keeffe taken by her husband Stieglitz, a world-renowned photographer. The photography include captivating portraits and nudes of O'Keeffe.
O'Keeffe took inspiration from her surroundings, including Lake George in upstate New York and a section of the retrospective is dedicated to her time there. The retrospective also charts O'Keeffe's artistic journey from the plains of West Texas to the high desert of New Mexico.
O’Keeffe began painting animal bones around 1931. "That first summer I spent in New Mexico I was a little surprised that there were so few flowers. There was no rain so the flowers didn’t come. Bones were easy to find so I began collecting bones," she says.
Still life was an important theme in O'Keeffe's work. She is best known for her large-scale studies of flowers, which are not to be missed. While these images are closely connected with her identify, O'Keeffe stated she wasn't really interested in flowers - she painted them because they were cheaper than models and didn't move.
O'Keeffe learned to drive and bought a car - her favourite place to paint became the backseat of a Model A Ford. O'Keeffe says she could stay out of the sun and away from the bees in New Mexico, where she painted many of her later works. In 1949, O’Keeffe moved to New Mexico permanently. She spent summers at Ghost Ranch and winters in her home in Abiquiú village.
The final section of Georgia O'Keeffe is dedicated to late abstractions and skyscapes, where it feels the artist has come full circle. Now in her seventies, O’Keeffe was as ambitious and confident as ever. O’Keeffe's work transformed aerial views of rivers to create abstractions, recalling her earliest works. Her art during this time foreshadow the new direction of abstract painting in New York City in the late 1950s.
As you exit (through the gift shop, natch), O'Keeffe's quote stencilled high on the gallery wall is a reminder of her legacy and the on-going influence of her work.
"Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing - and keeping the unknown always beyond you."