Lake George Reflection (circa 1921) via Wikimedia Commons
What comes to mind when you think of Georgia O’Keeffe?
Bleached skulls in the desert?
Aerial views of clouds, almost cartoonish in their puffiness?
Voluptuous flowers (freighted with an erotic charge the artist may not have intended)?
Probably not Polaroid prints of a dark haired pet chow sprawled on flagstones…
Or watercolor sketches of demurely pretty ladies…
Or a massive cast iron abstraction…
If your knowledge of America’s most celebrated female artist is confined to the gift shop’s greatest hits, you might enjoy a leisurely prowl through the 1100+ works in the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s digital collection.
A main objective of this collection is to provide a more complete understanding of the life and work of the iconic artist, who died in 1986 at the age of 98.
Her evolution is evident when you search by materials or date.
You can also view works by other artists in the collection, including two very significant men in her life, photographer Alfred Stieglitz and ceramicist Juan Hamilton.
Each item’s listing is enhanced with information on inscriptions and exhibitions, as well as links to other works produced in the same year.
Visit the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s online collection here. And watch a documentary introduction to O’Keeffe, narrated by Gene Hackman, below:
Note: An earlier version of this post appeared on our site in 2020.
Related Content:
The Real Georgia O’Keeffe: The Artist Reveals Herself in Vintage Documentary Clips
Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life in Art, a Short Documentary on the Painter Narrated by Gene Hackman
How Georgia O’Keeffe Became Georgia O’Keeffe: An Animated Video Tells the Story
Recipes from the Kitchen of Georgia O’Keeffe
Ayun Halliday is an author, illustrator, theater maker and Chief Primatologist in NYC.
