Words do not capture the spare, intense, unforgettable art of Georgia O’Keeffe; her paintings reveal her better, as Alfred Stieglitz said, “a woman on paper.”
Determined from her early years to be an artist, O’Keeffe’s career received a boost from famed photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who promoted her paintings in New York City after seeing her work. They married in 1924, beginning one of history’s great creative partnerships. Some of Stieglitz’ best work was of O’Keeffe, his muse, and in turn he promoted and encouraged her art throughout his life.
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American original, living as she chose, painting what she wanted. It is said that her art is uniquely American, shining with a bright modernism and energy. The lyrical flowers, the New Mexico-inspired vistas of light and shape, the hard-edged, energetic urban landscapes all somehow could only have been painted by an American woman. O’Keeffe painted all her days, committed as always to what she loved: “Art is a wicked thing. It is what we are.”
