Addressing the balance here - another female artist as we are generally under represented in the world of art. Elaine and I had a very long conversation - our telephone bills were quite horrendous - where we discussed the lack of work by women artists in public galleries ...we even made a verbal list, how I wish I'd written it down!
These photos of O'Keeffe were taken by Alfred Stieglitz - her mentor and husband and one of America’s first advocates of modern art.
So ...back to the subject of this blog ...Georgia O'Keeffe.
Another artist who painted in series - flowers - skulls - landscapes - buildings - clouds.
Bright, bold and big!
Most of her works are on a grand scale - a small flower is blown up large, a large flower larger still.
Jimson weed 1932 - Georgia O'Keeffe - Tate
The above image links to the Tate's page for the exhibition of her work in 2016, it was brilliant and I particularly love an image that of course is not on the internet, I don't have a copy of it in a book either - it was a cows skull on a red sand background, stark yes, but beautifully rendered and stunning!
Why skulls?
She was looking for an icon for the landscape in which she lived - Northern New Mexico - she kept seeing skeletons, bones and in particular skulls on her walks and started to take them home to paint. Not a morbid fascination with death but a healthy obsession with her environment and recording it.