“The meaning of a word—to me—is not as exact as the meaning of a color.”
—Georgia O'Keeffe, 1976
Georgia O’Keeffe repeatedly remarked that words did not suffice when it came to expressing herself. Nonetheless, she often wrote in support of her work and authored letters daily for personal and professional purposes.
Writing to family, friends, and a fascinating circle of colleagues, O’Keeffe’s letters offer a glimpse into her passions, triumphs, and the daily happenings of her life. From matter-of-fact instructions on how to handle and repair her paintings to descriptive missives penned during her travels, which transport the reader to another place and time, O’Keeffe’s faithful application of pen to paper has allowed her thoughts and life to be shared with the world.
Georgia O’Keeffe sparred with critics through the written word and regularly composed statements for her annual exhibitions that were printed in catalogues and brochures. This exhibition features an array of O’Keeffe’s writings about art and her own artistic practice. It includes her opinion piece in the avant-garde arts journal Manuscripts to the question of whether or not a photograph can be a significant work of art as well as her first monograph. In 1976, with no large-scale publication devoted to her art or biography existing, O’Keeffe thoughtfully designed and produced a book about her life and art. Part autobiography, memoir, and art monograph, it continues to serve as a “definitive study” of the artist, just as she intended it.
“El significado de una palabra —para mí— no es tan preciso como el significado de un color”.
—Georgia O’Keeffe, 1976
Georgia O’Keeffe repetidamente hizo notar que las palabras no eran suficientes cuando de expresarse se trataba. No obstante, con frecuencia escribió para apoyar su obra y diariamente escribió cartas personales y con propósitos profesionales. Su correspondencia a familiares, amigos y un fascinante círculo de colegas ofrece un vistazo a las pasiones, triunfos y acontecimientos diarios en la vida de O’Keeffe. Desde las prácticas instrucciones de cómo manejar y reparar sus pinturas hasta las descriptivas misivas redactadas durante sus viajes — las cuales transportan al lector a otros lugares y tiempos— su fiel aplicación de la pluma al papel ha permitido que sus pensamientos y su vida se compartan con el mundo.
Georgia O’Keeffe con frecuencia discutió con críticos por medio de la palabra escrita y regularmente compuso comentarios para sus exposiciones anuales, las cuales se publicaron en catálogos y folletos. Esta vitrina muestra una selección de escritos de O’Keeffe sobre el arte y su propia práctica artística.
Incluye un artículo de opinión en la vanguardista publicación de arte Manuscritos con relación al cuestionamiento de si una fotografía es o no una obra de arte significativa así como su primera monografía. En 1976, sin que existiera ninguna publicación a gran escala dedicada a su arte o biografía, O’Keeffe concienzudamente diseñó y produjo un libro sobre su vida y arte. Parte autobiografía, memoria y arte monográfico, sirve aún como un “estudio definitivo” de la artista, así como ella lo planeó.
Exhibition: Georgia O'Keeffe: Finding Words
Location: Michael S. Engl Family Foundation Library and Archive, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Dates: March 2023 - September 2024
Curator: Elizabeth Ehrnst
Handout:
Learn more about O'Keeffe's art and life from the artist herself in published collections of letters and books that she authored.
Published Georgia O'Keeffe Correspondence
Georgia O'Keeffe's Wartime Texas Letters by
Note from the library:
Selected and annotated letters written by O'Keeffe from her time in Texas, 1916-1918.
About:
Amy Von Lintel brings to readers the collected O'Keeffe correspondence and added commentary and analysis, shining fresh light on a period of the artist's life she characterizes as "some of the least appreciated in the vast O'Keeffe scholarship," but also as "a time when she discovered her own voice as a young, successful, and independent woman . . . a dedicated faculty member at a brand-new college . . . a vibrant social butterfly . . . a progressive woman who spoke her mind and fought for her beliefs to be heard." Although selected paintings by O'Keeffe that support the narrative are featured, this work focuses on O'Keeffe's words. By doing so, Von Lintel aims to allow the artist's voice to "emerge as a powerful witness of her own life, but also of western America in a pivotal moment of its development." The result is an important new examination of one of our most beloved artists during a time when she was in the process of discovering her future identity.
Georgia O'Keeffe: art and letters by
Note from the library:
An exhibition catalogue featuring O'Keeffe's drawings and paintings as well as letters from the artist to critics, friends, and colleagues.
Lovingly, Georgia: the complete correspondence of Georgia O'Keeffe & Anita Pollitzer by
Note from the library:
Correspondence between O’Keeffe and Pollitzer, a friend. Most letters date from 1915-1917 and are an interesting reference for the formative years of Georgia O'Keeffe's life.
Maria Chabot - Georgia O'Keeffe: correspondence 1941-1949 by
Note from the library:
Letters between O’Keeffe and Chabot dating from 1941-1949 describing their connection to the people and places of northern New Mexico and the reconstruction of O’Keeffe’s Abiquiú house.
About:
Maria Chabot met Georgia O'Keeffe in Northern New Mexico in 1940. For four summers beginning in 1941, when O'Keeffe was in New Mexico, Chabot lived with the artist at Ghost Ranch, managing her house and guests, and organizing the famed camping-painting trips from which came some of O'Keeffe's most distinguished works of the period. In 1946, Chabot agreed to oversee the reconstruction of a ruined adobe house in Abiquiu, New Mexico, that would become O'Keeffe's permanent home in 1949.
My Faraway One: selected letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz by
Note from the library:
Correspondence between O’Keeffe and Stieglitz dating from 1915-1933. Letters provide a glimpse into their relationship, the evolution of their art and ideals, and their friendships with range of key figures in American and European art and culture.
About:
The first extensive publication from the extraordinary archive of private correspondence between two of this country's most famous artists. This long-awaited volume features some 650 letters, carefully selected and annotated by leading photography scholar Sarah Greenough. In O'Keeffe's sparse and vibrant style and Stieglitz's fervent and lyrical manner, the letters describe how they met and fell in love in the 1910s; how they carved out a life together in the 1920s; how their relationship nearly collapsed during the early years of the Depression; and how it was reconstructed in the late 1930s and early 1940s. At the same time, the correspondence reveals the creative evolution of their art and ideas; their friendships with many of the most influential figures in early American modernism.
Books by Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe by
Note from the library:
Over one hundred reproductions selected by O’Keeffe are accompanied by her own recollections of the inception of the works and major life events.
About:
A handsomely illustrated autobiography of this free-spirited American artist.
Some Memories of Drawings by
A collection of Georgia O'Keeffe's major drawings. Each drawing is accompanied by the artist's comments, usually on how, why, where, or when she made the drawing. The book was originally published in 1974 in a signed, limited edition of one hundred copies. O'Keeffe's text was her first writing intended for book publication.
