Georgia O’Keeffe:
Living Modern
Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864–1946). Georgia O’Keeffe, circa 1920–22. Gelatin silver print, 4½ x 3½ in. (11.4 x 9 cm). Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Gift of The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, 2003.01.006.
This exhibition addresses how Georgia O’Keeffe proclaimed her progressive, independent lifestyle through a self-crafted public persona, using her art, her clothing, and the way she posed for the camera. Early on, she fashioned a signature style of dress that dispensed with ornamentation, which evolved in her years in New York—when a black-and-white palette dominated much of her art and dress—and then her time in New Mexico, where her art and clothing changed in response to the colors of the Southwestern landscape. There, a younger generation of photographers visited her and solidified her status as a pioneer of modernism and contemporary style icon. In addition to O’Keeffe’s paintings and clothes, the show includes photographs of the painter by noted artists Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Andy Warhol, and others.
Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946), Georgia O’Keeffe, circa 1920–22
Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887-1986), Pelvis with the Moon—New Mexico, 1943
Philippe Halsman (American, born Latvia, 1906-1979), Georgia O'Keeffe, 1948, printed 1997
Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887-1986), Morning Glory with Black, 1926
Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887-1986), Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 3, 1930
Bruce Weber (American, born 1946), Georgia O’Keeffe, Abiquiu, N.M., 1984
Emsley. Suit (Jacket, Pants, and Vest), 1983. Black wool. Inner garment: Lord & Taylor. Shirt, circa 1960s. White cotton, 1983
Attributed to Georgia O’Keeffe, Blouse (detail), circa early to mid-1930s
Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern was organized by the Brooklyn Museum, with guest curator Wanda M. Corn, Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor Emerita in Art History, Stanford University and made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. Special thanks to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, whose collaborative participation made this exhibition possible.
Lead sponsorship for this exhibition at the Norton was provided by the Esther B. O’Keeffe Foundation.
Additional support was provided by the Priscilla and John Richman Endowment for American Art, the Mr. and Mrs. Hamish Maxwell Exhibition Endowment, the Michael M. Rea Endowment for Special Exhibitions, the Gioconda and Joseph King Endowment for Exhibitions, the Sydelle and Arthur I. Meyer Endowment Fund, and the William and Sarah Ross Soter Photography Fund.
The exhibition was coordinated at the Norton by Ellen E. Roberts, Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Curator of American Art. Matter Architecture Practice was the exhibition designer at the Norton.
The accompanying book was supported by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art and the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation and was published by the Brooklyn Museum in Association with Delmonico Books • Prestel.