Bucket List Item Checked Off

When we were in Santa Fe last week I was hoping to visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, something I've wanted to do for years.  Unbeknownst to me was that reservations are required to enter.  I was a little bummed at breakfast when I tried to make a reservation and the earliest time available was in the afternoon and we had a family obligation that afternoon.

Irv suggested we just walk over there anyway to see if there were any cancellations.  We arrived before the museum opened and when we were loitering outside this woman walks up.  She was wearing a lanyard and it was obvious she worked there and she asked us if she could help us.  We told her the situation and then she told us to follow her through the locked door.  She took us to the front counter and got us tickets for the 10:00 opening time.  What a great way to start the day!

Georgia is a woman I greatly admire.  She was born in Wisconsin in 1887 and left home to attend the Chicago Art Institute and then the Art Students League of New York.  She then worked as an illustrator before teaching in Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina after her father was no longer able to subsidize her education.

Then around 1914 she had an eye opening revelation about her painting.  During her early years she tried to become the artist people expected with colors and techniques that were common.  In 1914 she allowed herself to become free and moved into abstraction.

I totally relate with Georgia on this.  The paintings I've been doing lately are what I consider to be tight and very stressful to complete.  There is no freedom.  My teacher, who is an amazing realist, has pushed me to her style even though I continually try to convince her I'm an impressionist.  She has definitely made me a better artist, but sometimes I'd like to just be free and wild with my paintbrush.  After visiting the museum I have a couple ideas for projects that will be more to my style.  Thanks for the inspiration, Georgia!

Georgia lived in New York where she painted skyscrapers.  Male artists told her to leave the city scenes to them, but she told them she'd paint whatever she liked.  She worked with photographer Alfred Stieglitz before marrying him in 1924.  

We're all familiar with Georgia's large flower paintings.  What makes them so amazing is their simplicity.

I have to admit I like her paintings that are mostly white, but her use of color is amazing too.

Did you know that in 2014 the Museum sold one of Georgia's paintings (I don't have a picture of it--Jimson Weed/White Flower #1) to the Walmart heiress for over $44M.  That's the most ever paid for a painting by a female artist.  Don't you think owning the Broncos and a Georgia O'Keeffe original is enough for anyone?

In 1929 Georgia started spending time in the Southwest and eventually owned two homes in New Mexico.  Her husband has started a long term affair which caused Georgia to go into a great depression and she was eventually hospitalized for a nervous breakdown.  She didn't paint for four years.  New Mexico provided a new start for her where she moved permanently in 1949.

Her paintings were inspired by the Southwest scenery and again, it's the simplicity and size of the paintings that make them so impactful.

Above is my favorite O'Keeffe painting entitled Ram's Head/Blue Morning Glory (not be be confused with Ram's Head/White Hollyhock and Little Hills).  I splurged and bought myself a print of it at the museum.

I also like her horse skull.  A couple years ago we found a fox skull in our pasture and I gave it to my teacher for one of her paintings.  I may have to borrow it back.

Another painting at the Museum I really appreciated was Black Hollyhock/Blue Larkspur.  Don't you love how she named her pieces?

Her simple paintings of the desert are mesmerizing.

Georgia died in 1986 at her Santa Fe home, the Ghost Ranch.  Her estate was left to her longtime caretaker and assistant, but was contested by her family.  She'll forever be known as the "Mother of American Modernism".

I couldn't resist purchasing a couple books about her and her works.  I also bought a paintbrush that I'm going to use when I start my large painting of an American bison skull and my favorite flower--sunflowers.  I'm going to name it Bison Skull/Yellow Sunflowers.  I just have to wait for those large canvases to be half price at the big craft store.

😝