Georgia on My Mind: Ninth Grade Georgia O’Keeffe Art Exhibit

1/25/2017

By: Rona Sue London

Georgia O'Keeffe was an unusual artist because she was a 20th century American woman who gained public recognition in her lifetime. A New York City art teacher who painted in her spare time, Georgia is most well-known for her large paintings of flowers.

Georgia's roommate, Anita, believed Georgia to be quite talented; without telling her friend, she took some of Georgia’s work to show the famous gallery owner and photographer, Alfred Steiglitz. Alfred was mesmerized by Georgia's paintings and hung them in his gallery without the artist's consent. While passing the gallery, Georgia saw her works on display. Furious, she confronted Alfred and demanded he take down her art. They argued and Georgia finally relented. The two became friends and eventually married, although the union was quite tumultuous.

Georgia started painting when she was 30 and did not stop until she died at 98. In that time, she painted more than 200 pictures of flowers — each painting is beautiful in its own right. She found the subject matter riveting because she not only varied the type of flower, but changed the colors and perspective. The one constant in all of her flower paintings was that they were all painted extremely large, as if the viewer is examining the flower intimately, as she explained:

"A flower is relatively small. Everyone has many associations with a flower — the idea of flowers. You put out your hand to touch the flower — lean forward to smell it maybe touch it with your lips almost without thinking — or give it to someone to please them. Still — in a way — 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 way I see 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'll be surprised into taking time to look at it."

Ms. London's ninth graders captured the essence of Georgia O'Keeffe’s work in their pastel drawings now on display in the theatre lobby. In the process of creating they learned about scale, the color wheel, the art of blending and the importance of following one's own vision. As Ilanit A. ’20 eloquently wrote, "I felt like I gained a new point of perspective when I re-created Georgia's style. Her flower creations are unique and I feel lucky to have been exposed to her art and learning about her."

Back