Red Canna - O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe was born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin 1887 and grew up in Virginia and first studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. Initially, she embraced a highly abstracted, urban style of art. She later moved to New York where she thrived within the growing community of abstract expressionists. Beginning in 1912, though, she began spending time in Texas and she became the head of the art department at the West Texas State Normal College in 1916. O'Keeffe's time in Texas sparked her enduring fascination with the stark and powerful western landscape. She began to paint more representational images that drew on the natural forms of the canyons and plains that surrounded her. O'Keeffe's paintings of cow skulls and calla lilies gained particular attention and won her an enthusiastic audience. In 1919, O'Keeffe made a brief visit to the small New Mexican village of Taos, and she returned for a longer stay in 1929. Attracted to the clear desert light and snow-capped mountains, she began returning to New Mexico every summer to paint. O'Keeffe found a vibrant and supportive community among the artists that had been flocking to Taos and Santa Fe since the 1890s.

After her husband died in 1949, O'Keeffe permanently relocated to Abiquiu, New Mexico. There she continued to produce her hauntingly simple images of the southwestern land she loved. By the time she died in 1986, O'Keeffe was considered one of the preeminent artists of the American West and had inspired legions of imitators.

She received widespread recognition for her technical contributions, as well as for challenging the boundaries of modern American artistic style. She made her home in New Mexico, where she was inspired by the natural beauty of the area. She is chiefly known for paintings of flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones, and landscapes. Her paintings present crisply contoured forms and she often transformed her subject matter into powerful abstract image. She is most famous for her paintings of giant flowers. She wanted people to notice the beauty of the flower. Because they are so small, and sometimes are unnoticed, she decided to paint them big so people would see them, to take a moment to smell the flowers. She portrays the glory of an object simple enough to overlook on a daily basis, but one of the most complex in beauty within the natural world.

Georgia O'Keeffe said herself, "Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven't time - and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time. If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers....Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't."

questions:

What is the first thing that you see? This is the focal point. The focal point is what first draws your eye, something that stands out.

Do you think this is an abstract painting or is it a painting or something? Hint — are the shapes in this painting organic or geometric? Organic shapes are found in nature while geometric shapes are man-made.

How would you describe the colors? What specific color names describe the different shades? How would you describe the texture?

How would you describe the mood or feeling of the painting? Does it feel peaceful, exciting, dangerous, or soothing?

Why do you think the artist choose to paint the flower from such a close up view? How would you have felt if it showed the whole flower from a distance?

O'Keeffe spent much of her life in the southwest, specifically New Mexico, whose stunning vistas and stark landscape configurations had inspired her work. What is the temperature in the desert? What kind of plants and animals live in the desert? Do you think this flower came from the desert?

activities:

In the binder, there is a laminated O'Keeffe print of a leaf. Have the students do the same thing by making enlarged leaf drawings - laminated real autumn leaves are available in binder for this so the class can see leaves up close. The print and examples of the project are below:

Can you think of other things that would look very different up close? To quote O'Keeffe "I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking the time to look at it." Form a little frame by holding your hands perpendicular to each other with you thumbs sticking out. Now peer through your frame with one eye at objects around you-your neighbor's ear, part of your shoe, etc. Do you see things differently?

Bring in several different (size, color, texture, etc.) flowers. Ask the students to draw them from the perspective used in this print. Provide vibrant colors, paints, colored pencils, crayon, etc.

Resources:

An additional kid friendly resource at the AHML is "Georgia O'Keeffe" by Mike Venezia.

Links: