Week 21 - Artist research Georgia O'Keeffe

 This week I caught up a little more on my blog

ARTIST RESEARCH - Georgia O'Keeffe 

Georgia O'Keeffe (15th November 1887-6th March 1986) was an American modernist painter and draftswoman. She was dubbed the 'mother of American Modernism' and gained international recognition for her natural form paintings, especially flowers, hills and desert-inspired landscapes, these were often drawn from and related to places she'd loved, including in childhood. She began studying at the School of Art Institute of Chicago in 1905. She worked as a commercial illustrator or teacher to pay for further education until 1920. She began to move to abstraction in 1915 through watercolours and charcoal drawings.

O'Keeffe created many forms of abstract art including close-ups of flowers like the Red Canna paintings. Her works are in several museum collections and following her death the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum was established in Santa Fe.

O'Keeffe's drawings and paintings were frequently abstract, although she began expanding her visual vocabulary from 1924 onwards to include more representational imagery 'usually taken from nature and often painted in series'. She developed a personal language to better express her feelings and ideas through her art.

By the mid 1920's she was recognised as one of America's most important artists, known for her paintings of New York skyscrapers alongside her radical depictions of flowers. She was the first female painter to gain respect in the New York art world in the 1920's. Her unique way of painting nature made her a pioneer. 

Landscapes and found natural objects from the desert like bones, skulls and sticks inspired her work. She knew from the age of 12 she wanted to be an artist. I find this really cool!! She was incredibly inspired by the desert in New Mexico as she loved how dramatic and rugged it was. She'd adapted her car as a place to work so that she could work while camped out in the desert. 

Her art was also deeply inspired by where she grew up in Wisconsin surrounded by the natural landscapes, nature and open spaces. Childhood sensory experiences like a fascination with shells also inspired her work. Her childhood experiences directly informed her artistic vision. 

 

Overall I really really love Georgia O'Keeffes artwork, it gives such a smooth and calming feeling, with its soft strokes and slightly muted and relaxing colours. I think that this really sets the mood of calmness and I think the colour is extremely important in her artwork as without it, it'd be shades of grey. 

I think the colour in her artwork could be almost vital and I really love how it sweeps over the entire pieces like a wave or ocean of like calm feelings and almost dreamyness. 

I really love the amazing blending within her artwork as well, I feel like it really smooths out her pictures and makes them really unique, as the colours do clash with eachother but they dont at the same time, she makes them really go together, in a good way too as well. I think shes a great and amazing painter, and I find her artwork really absolutely incredible and really fun and detailed to look at, creative and unique, and brings feelings of calmness and really shows landscape really well, overall I really love Georgia O'Keeffes Artwork and I think its amazing and great, cool and epic!!!!!!!