Robert Draws – Georgia Totto O’Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American artist born on a farm in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, to a farming family. She attended Sacred Heart Academy in Madison, Wisconsin, and graduated from Chatham Episcopal Institute in Virginia in 1905. O’Keeffe later gained recognition as one of America’s most famous painters, known for her distinctive and vibrant works inspired by nature.
O’Keeffe first gained public attention with her artworks displayed in the Art Institute of Chicago in 1943 and later at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1946.
O’Keeffe is often celebrated for her striking and vivid paintings, many of which feature flowers, mountains, seashells, and even animal bones she discovered in the desert. Despite her love for all things natural, she never depicted people or animals in her works. Her approach to painting involved simplifying and reimagining the natural world around her. For example, she painted seashells in such an oversized manner to imbue them with a “special power.” At times, she painted forms and colors that were conjured from her imagination.
Georgia Totto O’Keeffe was raised on a farm, which provided her with ample opportunities to explore nature. She was deeply curious and even tasted dirt as a child just to understand its flavor. Her mother believed in the importance of art and ensured that O’Keeffe and her siblings received artistic education. O’Keeffe excelled in the arts, and her parents encouraged her to pursue art studies after high school. She attended various art schools, and at one institution in New York, she won an award for her painting “Dead Rabbit with Copper Pot.”
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Georgia Totto O’Keeffe found herself drawn to New York, a bustling city that offered much more excitement than her quiet rural upbringing. She frequently visited a small gallery owned by photographer Alfred Stieglitz, which exhibited works by new artists.
After completing her studies, O’Keeffe took up a teaching job in Texas. She was captivated by the bright skies and intense sunlight of the region. The energy she felt from the thunderstorms and the powerful lightning of the nights in Texas began to influence her artwork. Her works began to show her unique perspective, which stood apart from the conventional styles of other artists.
Stieglitz, who had developed an interest in O’Keeffe’s work, believed she had the potential to become one of the greatest American artists. He wrote to O’Keeffe, asking her to return to New York, and she, though reluctant to leave Texas, ultimately accepted his invitation.
Upon arriving in New York, O’Keeffe started painting with bright, vibrant colors on her canvases. Her works evolved, and she began to focus on flowers—magnificent blooms that would make her famous. O’Keeffe often painted large-scale flowers from up close, hoping to evoke the same emotion in viewers as she experienced when looking at the real flowers. Her work quickly garnered attention, especially because, in the 1920s, there were not many female artists with such recognition.
Despite the financial pressures to sell her work, O’Keeffe was reluctant to part with her paintings. She had invested so much time and energy into them and felt a deep connection to each piece, making it hard for her to let go when they left the gallery.
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During this time, O’Keeffe became a frequent subject for Alfred Stieglitz’s photographs. He found her extremely beautiful and took many portraits of her. Their working relationship evolved into a romance, and they eventually married, moving into an apartment in New York. Here, O’Keeffe began to paint cityscapes—a groundbreaking move for a female artist at the time, as cityscapes were typically created by male painters in the 1920s.
Years later, O’Keeffe visited Mexico to see a friend and ultimately decided to settle there. In Mexico, she began to paint animal bones, flowers, desert landscapes, and other desert motifs. O’Keeffe was particularly inspired by the mountains in Mexico, which appeared alive to her. In some of her paintings, these mountains seemed to move.
O’Keeffe spent the rest of her life painting in Mexico. With Stieglitz agreeing that it was the ideal place for her to create her best work. While she continued to visit New York for a few months each year to be with Stieglitz. After his death, O’Keeffe chose to make Mexico her permanent home.
O’Keeffe lived to the age of 98. She never cared much about what others thought of her or her art. Throughout her life, she met many other artists and learned from them, but she never imitated their styles. This independence is what set her work apart and made it truly original. She had the ability to find beauty in things that others often overlooked. She was able to bring that beauty to life in her paintings.
