Georgia O’Keeffe
It's not enough to be nice in life, You've got to have nerve
Hibiscus with Plumeria, 1939
Painted by Georgia O'Keeffe with oil paint on canvas while on a trip to Hawaii.
Early No. 2, 1915
This was one of her earliest works. Charcoal on laid paper. Laid Paper is a European style of paper.
Red Canna, 1924
An oil painting on canvas. She started using oil paint later as a different medium.
Biography
Born in 1887, Georgia O'Keeffe was a 20th century painter known for her abstract paintings of flowers and landscapes of mountains and fields. In 1905, Georgia O'Keeffe started studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. She found that the European style of art was not for her so she switched to an Institute in New York. She still couldn't find a style that would be known as hers and only hers. Around 1915 she finally found herself in South Carolina where an Art Professor, named Arthur Dow, helped her find a style that was all her own. He helped her realize that she was trying too hard to please others. She only really needed to please herself. Thats how she found her style and followed her dream.
Contribution to American Culture
One reason Georgia O’Keeffe became famous for her art was because her style and paintings were original. She had found a perfect approach to creating her art. She blazed the path in the United States for making paintings more abstract. She focused on landscapes and flowers; painting them the way she saw them. She contributed the idea that you don’t have to please everyone. You can’t please everyone.
Comparison to Thomas Darnell
Darnell's style of painting is quite similar to the style of O'Keeffe's. Most of his work is based on white flowers like the ones on the far left below. I think that the styles are similar because they both have a way of zooming in on the flowers in their paintings that they both have a look that is more abstract than realism.
Peonies
An oil painting by Thomas Darnell
Max Flowers
¨Bouquet of mixed vibrant flowers dedicated to my friend, Max¨ ~Thomas Darnell
Darnell Painting
A picture taken of Darnell while he was painting.
“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn't say any other way- things I had no words for.” ~Georgia O'Keeffe