Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Amer ...
made a number of ''Red Canna'' paintings of the canna lily plant, first in watercolor, such as a red canna flower bouquet painted in 1915, but primarily abstract paintings of close-up images in oil. O'Keeffe said that she made the paintings to reflect the way she herself saw flowers, although others have called her depictions
erotic
Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...
, and compared them to female genitalia. O'Keeffe said they had misconstrued her intentions for doing her flower paintings: "Well – I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower – and I don't."
O'Keeffe was not unaware of the sexual references in her work, but male art critics' misinterpretations of these references perpetuated a sexual understanding of her work that was very different from her original intention. She expressed herself through the use of vibrant colors like red, yellow, and orange.
Overview
A gardener, O'Keeffe was often inspired to make a dozen or more paintings of a specific flower. She became interested in brilliant colors and billowy petals of the canna lilies when she visited Lake George, New York in 1918 with
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...
. The
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As she evolved as an artist, her works became suggestive of female form, like ''Inside Red Canna''.
Paul Rosenfeld
Paul Leopold Rosenfeld (May 4, 1890 – July 21, 1946) was an American journalist, best known as a music critic.
Biography
He was born in New York City into a German-Jewish family, the son of Clara (née Liebmann) and Julius Rosenfield. His mot ...
, who owned one of her ''Red Canna'' paintings, said "... there is no stroke laid by her brush, whatever it is she may paint, that is not curiously, arrestingly female in quality. Essence of very womanhood permeates her pictures."
''Red Canna'' (1915) watercolor
In 1915, O'Keeffe painted a watercolor of a bouquet of red canna blossoms on paper. The work, , is among the collection of the
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
.
Small ''Red Canna'' (1919)
A small painting of a close-up of a red canna lily was made by O'Keeffe in 1919. The oil painting depicts the flower against a dark cloudy background. Owned by a private collector, it is on extended loan to the
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O'Keeffe, her life, American modernism, and public engagement. It opened on July 17, 1997, eleven years after the artist's death. It comprises multiple sites in two locat ...
. It was stolen from the
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
museum by a security guard, William Crumpton, who pleaded guilty on October 26, 2004 to stealing paintings and cash from the museum and a government office. The painting, valued at , was recovered.
''Red Canna'' (1919)
Painted in oil on a board, the red canna lily framed by green and dark yellow background colors at the top and right of the painting and dark blue at the bottom and left. The carefully blended colors and voluptuous curves reflect her emerging personal style. Once owned by Pollitzer family members of North Carolina, it was displayed at Columbia College in South Carolina, where O'Keeffe was an instructor. The painting was acquired by
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...
of
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
by 2015.
''Inside Red Canna'' (1919)
She painted an extreme close-up of the canna lily entitled ''Inside the Red Canna'' in 1919. It is a depiction of the large petals of the exterior of the flower, with focus on the interior through the use of contrasting shades of colors. The painting was made with red, orange, brown, and pink paint. The abstract oil painting is owned by private collectors.
''Red Canna'' (1923)
The version made in 1923 is an oil painting of a red canna lily against a yellow background. The Lily nearly fills the canvas. It is owned by the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
''Red Canna'' (1924)
The 1924 painting, a close-up of the flower with streaks of light blue and gray, immerses the viewer in the blossom, and is meant to convey the way that O'Keeffe experiences it.
In the 1920s it was believed to be among the collection of Flora Stieglitz Strauss and possibly that of O'Keeffe in 1953. It was in private collections until 1993, when it was acquired by
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
in New York. It was last recorded to be in the private collection of
A. Alfred Taubman
Adolph Alfred "Al" Taubman (January 31, 1924 – April 17, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.
He was convicted in 2002 for a price-fixing scheme involving the top two auction houses in the United States.
Backgro ...
.
''Red Canna'' (1925–1926)
She painted the interior of the flower in reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks. Painted in oil, the abstract painting is . It is owned by the
University of Arizona Museum of Art
The University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) is an art museum in Tucson, Arizona, operated by the University of Arizona. The museum's permanent collection includes more than 6,000 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, prints and drawin ...
.
''Red and Orange Canna'' (1926)
Another close-up painted in oil, the painting is among the collection of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
''Red Canna'' (1927)
In 1927, O'Keeffe made a painting of a close-up of the wide red petals of the canna lily. Painted in oil, it is . Once among private collections, it is now owned by
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Amon may refer to:
Mythology
* Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra
* Aamon, a Goetic demon
People Momonym
* Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah
Given name
* Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American p ...
in
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...