Mule Skull with Turkey Feather

Georgia O'KeeffeWW-1936-022466

1936·Graphite on ivory wove paper·54.3 × 39.1 cm (21 7/16 × 15 7/16 in.)

<p>Born in Wisconsin, Georgia O’Keeffe divided her time between New York and New Mexico in the years 1929–49. Her first retrospective was mounted by the Art Institute of Chicago in 1943. An influential member of the circle of early modernists that formed around her husband, photographer and dealer Alfred Stieglitz, she was particularly recognized for her synthesis of abstraction and representation, as well as for her superb technical skill. Frequently taking inspiration from natural forms of the Southwest, O’Keeffe rendered two distinct objects—a skull and a feather—in this strong, yet subtle drawing, paying particular attention to the formal relationships between<br>the two.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1936
Medium: Graphite on ivory wove paper
Dimensions: 54.3 × 39.1 cm (21 7/16 × 15 7/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe

Artist

Georgia O'Keeffe

Painting

One of the most successful artists of the 20th century, Georgia O’Keeffe enjoyed a long and varied artistic career in which she introduced many new aesthetic perspectives and approaches in Modernism. Born in Wisconsin in 1887, she studied at the Art Institute of Chicago beginning in 1905 before taking teaching position in South Carolina, Virginia and Texas. She moved to New York City in 1918 at the age of 31 where she became part of the artistic milieu of her future husband photographer Alfred Stieglitz. In these years, she became fascinated with the fast pace of city life and produced paintings highlighting the city’s soaring skyscrapers as symbols of the modern world.

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