O'Keeffe

Georgia OKeeffe (18871986) was a major figure in modern American art for some seven decades. Importantly, her fame was not associated with shifting art styles and trends, but rather with her own unique vision, based on finding essential and abstract forms in nature. OKeeffes primary subjects were landscapes, flowers, and bones, each explored in successive series over several years. Certain works went on for decades, producing 12 or more variations of an original image. Among these, OKeeffes magnified pictures of calla lilies and irises are her most famous. Enlarging the tiniest petals to fill an entire canvas, OKeeffe created a proto-abstract vocabulary of shapes and lines, earning her the moniker mother of American modernism. In 1946, OKeeffe became the first female artist to be given a solo show at the MoMA in New York. This introductory book from TASCHEN Basic Art 2.0 traces OKeeffes long and luminous career through key paintings, contemporary photographs, and portraits taken by Alfred Stieglitz, to whom OKeeffe was married. We follow the artist through her pioneering innovations, major breakthroughs, and her travels and inspirations in Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and, above all, New Mexico, where she was particularly inspired by the majestic landscapes, vivid colors and exotic vegetation.