Georgia O'Keefe
One of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, Georgia O'Keeffe challenged notions of style, theory, and possibility when she emerged on the modern art scene. In her day, women were sorely underrepresented in the male-dominated art world, but that didn't stop Georgia from painting her way to becoming an American legend.
Georgia was born to be an artist, and knew it from the time she was eight years old. As a child on her parents' farm in Wisconsin, Georgia declared her calling and began taking lessons. She took off for serious training in Chicago at eighteen and moved on to New York two years later. There she studied at the reputable Art Students League, but the pressure to conform to what other artists-like Cezanne, Picasso, and the American realists-were doing was discouraging to Georgia. She knew her vision was different, and rather than compromise it, she quit painting and took up commercial art.
Fortunately, Georgia eventually found the support she craved-first from an instructor at Columbia University name Arthur Dove, and later from Alfred Steiglitz, who recognized the quality and originality of her work. Alfred fearlessly exhibited Georgia's paintings despite the stir they caused. Once Georgia was free to paint by her own instincts, there was no stopping her. Her first show caused a sensation.
In 1929, Georgia traveled to New Mexico and hence began her love affair with the American Southwest. Georgia would become most famous for her painting of desert landscapes and objects. Among them were close-ups of flowers and animal bones, stark depictions of adobe buildings, and organic renderings of sprawling mountains.
Having created more than nine hundred works during her lifetime, Georgia died at the age of 98. Her art is preserved in books, museums, and galleries. A collection of about five hundred photographs of her, taken by Alfred also remains, capturing many dimensions of perhaps the most wonderful and interesting female artist of all time.
Excerpted from the book Cool Women with permission of publisher, Girl Press.
Learn More About Georgia O'Keefe
Georgia O'Keefe Museum
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/visit/permanent.html
Learn more about Georgia's artwork at the Georgia O'Keefe museums web site. See the paintings and read why they're important.
Online O'Keefe Exhibits
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/okeeffe_georgia.html
See Georgia O'Keefe's work that is shown at various online exhibits.
Georgia O'Keefe Biography
http://www.ellensplace.net/okeeffe1.html
Learn more about Georgia's life in three sections: "the young artist," "O'Keefe and Steiglitz," and "the faraway."
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