GEORGIA O'KEEFFE

PHOTO OF GEORGIA O'KEEFFE BY ALFRED STIEGLITZ, 1918

 

 

Every year about this time, as another birthday approaches, I remember an incredibly talented woman who has always inspired me with her zest and passion for life, her feisty independent spirit, and her bold and beautiful artwork.  I’m also proud to say that she was born and raised in my home state of Wisconsin and shared my same birthdate—November 15.  How I would have loved to have met her! Years ago I had a chance to visit New Mexico, where she spent decades inspiring people around the world with her amazing paintings.

CERRO PEDERNAL MOUNTAIN IN NEW MEXICO

 

Georgia O’Keeffe was born in 1887 near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.  She was named after her paternal grandfather who came to the U.S. from Hungary in 1848.  Since the age of 10 she had wanted to be an artist and was able to receive art instruction from a local artist. There were times when she doubted her ability to succeed with her artwork, but she became one of America’s most important and beloved artists. In 1977 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor.  She was 90 years old at the time. She lived another eight years and died in 1986 at the age of 98. Her work is displayed in museums around the world and volumes have been written about her.  Sante Fe, New Mexico proudly honors her work and spirit with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.  The area of Taos, New Mexico was beloved by her and inspired much of her work.  She loved the Ghost Ranch area and bought a house there in 1940. She loved painting the mountain Cerro Pedernal and once said, “I painted it often enough thinking that if I did so, God would give it to me.”

Georgia married well-known photographer, art expert, and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz in 1924.  He exhibited some of her work in New York, where she had moved in 1918.  Her first show included oil paintings and water colors. Stieglitz was twenty-three years older than his wife and she out-lived him by forty years.

GEORGIA O'KEEFFE PAINTING

 

Georgia O’keeffe was known as a loner.  She once said, “I wish people were all trees and I think I could enjoy them then.”  She loved painting nature scenes and often made paintings of clouds and rock formations and flowers. Many of those paintings are displayed in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Remembering a remarkable American artist, here are a few final quotes attributed to her:

            “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life, and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”

            “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.”

            “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment.  I want to give that world to someone else.  Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower.  I want them to see it whether they want to or not.”

            “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say another way—things I had no words for.”

            “The days you work are the best days.”

            “Singing has always seemed to me the most perfect means of expression.  It is so spontaneous.  And after singing, I think the violin.  Since I cannot sing, I paint.”