Georgia O’Keeffe is, of course, famous for her flowers and her landscapes of the Southwest, but she also lived (and worked) for several years in New York City. She captured its architectural details and urban energy alike in paintings, drawings, and pastels. This new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago covers Georgia O’Keeffe’s time in New York. It shows the connection between O’Keeffe’s art and architecture.
In 1924, O’Keefe moved into the Shelton Hotel, then the tallest residential building in the world. She spent five years there and—inspired by her residence and her surroundings—painted and drew prolifically in a variety of media, scales, and subject matters.
For more information, check out this essay: Skyscraper Living: Georgia O’Keeffe and the Shelton Hotel. It tells how her high-rise home helped shape her modernist vision.
Related talks at the Art Institute
August 15: Conversation: Impossible Ideas—Georgia O’Keeffe and Aaron Douglas Envision the City
From AIC website: Join curator Sarah Kelly Oehler and professor Adrienne Brown for a conversation on Georgia O’Keeffe and Aaron Douglas. Both spent the 1920s approaching the “impossible idea” of making the city their subject.
August 31: Saturday Studio: O’Keeffe and the Urban Landscape
From AIC website: Take inspiration from Georgia O’Keeffe: “My New Yorks” and experience the pleasure of drawing the city en plein air. With O’Keeffe’s visual sensibilities as guide, you can create bold and personal interpretations of the Art Institute’s idyllic North Garden. The surrounding urban landscape is a medium O’Keeffe made her own while responding to the built and natural environment.
Story by Stephen Treffinger / Photo courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago
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