27 Mar 2014, O'Keeffe

 We never tire of the architecture here in Santa Fe.  This house was formerly quarters for officers attached to the Marcy Military Reservation.  Today it is the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research Center dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O'Keeffe and the study of American modernism. 

 Across the street is this lovely Presbyterian church.

 One of the exhibits was this re-creation of O'Keffe's studio located in her house in Abiquiu.  The photo on the wall is the view out her picture window.  Fortunately, photography was allowed in several rooms of the museum, so the works you see below are photos of her works.

 Black Lines was one of the works in her first exhibits. This was a far cry from her experimentation with color, shadow, and scenery that she did later in her life.

It was through this exhibit that she met Alfred Steiglitz, a well recognized photographer,and one of the first who strove to elevate photography to an accepted art form.  They eventually became lovers and, later, husband and wife.

 He took several photographs of her, many nude and quite erotic.   After these photos were exhibited, many critics, to her dismay and indignation, placed Freudian interpretations on much of her work.

While this work Music, Pink and Blue No. 2 was a poster child for that interpretation,

there were several of Steiglitz' photos that showed how they influenced each other's work.

 Like O'Keefe, Steiglitz valued form and shadows. She simplified what she saw into color with shadows.

After exchanging letters for three years, O'Keefe moved to New York in 1918.  They married. in 1924.  During her time with Steiglitz, she did many fabulous cityscapes and several gorgeous landscapes at their retreat in Lake George, New York. New York City Street is shown here.  Still, she felt stifled. 

After Steiglitz died in 1946, she moved to New Mexico, which she had fallen in love with years before.  This was one of her Out Back of Mary's series, and one of Penny's favorites.

  One of Ted's favorites was Trees Abiquia IV.  She did this series looking out the back of her house at the cottonwood trees along the Chama River.

These two paintings show different moods of one of her favorite areas which she called the White Canyon.

Also, on exhibit were several of Ansel Adams' photos taken on a commissioned visits that he made to Hawaii.  In the same room, were O'Keefe paintings from a commissioned visit of her own.  Unfortunately, photographs of the exhibits in this area were not allowed, but several may be found on the internet.

Should you choose to view these, you may recognize many of O'Keeffe's works, such as this one, from old Dole pineapple labels.