Ida Ten Eyck O'Keeffe (October 23, 1889 – September 27, 1961) was an American visual artist known for oil paintings, watercolors, and monotypes. She was the younger sister of painter

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

Early life and career

Ida O'Keeffe was born in

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 35,967 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, Madison and is part of the Madison metropolitan area. ...

, on October 23, 1889. She was the third of seven children. When Ida was 13, the family moved to

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

, where O'Keeffe took drawing classes in summer school at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. With her younger sister Anita and her more famous older sister

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, she studied art with local watercolor artist Sara Mann. They also had two grandmothers who were artists. O'Keeffe's artistic start was as a printmaker. She then briefly worked as a nurse before earning her

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. She painted approximately 70 canvases during her career. Her major themes included colorful, abstracted landscapes, and naturalistic

still lifes A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

. A number of her works feature lighthouses. She exhibited some works with her sisters Catherine and Georgia. Georgia gained more fame, partly because of a husband who worked as a well-known photographer and gallerist. O'Keeffe is known to have said, "I'd be famous, too, if I'd have had a Stieglitz." A 1933 review in a newspaper read "Georgia remains supreme." O'Keeffe taught art and was chair of the Art Department at Pembroke State College for Indians—today the

University of North Carolina at Pembroke The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC Pembroke or UNCP) is a public university in Pembroke, North Carolina, United States. UNC Pembroke is a master's level degree-granting university and part of the University of North Carolina syste ...

—from 1941 to 1942.

Collections and exhibitions

O'Keeffe's first exhibition was in 1927 at the Opportunity Gallery in New York, where she was identified as Ida Ten Eyck, to avoid being compared to her sister, Georgia. In 1974, she was featured in an exhibition in Santa Fe. She was featured in a solo exhibition at the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the A ...

entitled "Ida O'Keeffe: Escaping Georgia's Shadow". Her works were on display at the

Clark Art Institute The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, commonly referred to as the Clark, is an art museum and research institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Its collection consists of European ...

from July to October 2019. A number of her works may be found in private collections.

Death

O'Keeffe died of a stroke on September 27, 1961, in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and is part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKeeffe, Ida 1889 births 1961 deaths People from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin 20th-century American painters Painters from Wisconsin 20th-century American women painters Georgia O'Keeffe Columbia University School of the Arts alumni 20th-century American printmakers American women printmakers People from Williamsburg, Virginia University of Virginia alumni