Priya Kapoor
Georgia O'Keeffe was an American painter and draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades. She is best known for her paintings of flowers and desert landscapes, which were often inspired by the places she lived and travelled to. O'Keeffe's work remained largely independent of major art movements, and she gained recognition for her unique style. In the last two decades of her life, O'Keeffe's productivity declined due to ill health and blindness. She died in 1986 at the age of 98, and her ashes were scattered over the New Mexico landscape that had inspired so much of her work. So, what was the last painting O'Keeffe created before her death?
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What You'll Learn
- Georgia O'Keeffe's last paintings were inspired by her travels to Peru and Japan
- O'Keeffe's paintings of New York skyscrapers made her one of America's most important artists
- O'Keeffe's work was influenced by the landscapes of New Mexico, which she first visited in 1916
- O'Keeffe's paintings of flowers and desert landscapes were her most famous works
- O'Keeffe's last unassisted oil painting was completed in 1972, despite her failing eyesight
Georgia O'Keeffe's last paintings were inspired by her travels to Peru and Japan
Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, renowned for her contribution to modern art. Her career spanned seven decades, and her work remained independent of major art movements. O'Keeffe is best known for her paintings of natural subjects, especially flowers and bones, as well as her depictions of New York City skyscrapers and landscapes unique to northern New Mexico.
In the 1950s, O'Keeffe began to travel internationally. She embarked on a new artistic journey, painting and sketching the spectacular places she visited, including the mountain peaks of Peru and Japan's Mount Fuji. These travels inspired a new direction in her work, as she explored aerial views of clouds and the sky. Despite her failing vision and advancing age, O'Keeffe's passion for creating art did not diminish. With the assistance of others, she continued to draw on favourite motifs from memory and her vivid imagination.
O'Keeffe's last paintings reflected her enduring fascination with the natural world and her ability to capture its beauty in a unique and simplified manner. Her works from this period showcase her exceptional powers of observation and finesse with a paintbrush, recording subtle nuances of colour, shape, and light. Even in the face of ill health and blindness, O'Keeffe's artistic spirit remained unwavering until her death in 1986.
O'Keeffe's ashes were scattered over the New Mexico landscape, a place she had loved and found inspiration in for over half a century. Her legacy includes some 900 paintings that continue to attract and inspire subsequent generations of artists and art lovers. Her work is celebrated in the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, which was established following her death.
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O'Keeffe's paintings of New York skyscrapers made her one of America's most important artists
Georgia O'Keeffe is considered one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, renowned for her contribution to modern art. She was one of the first American artists to live in a skyscraper, moving into one of New York City's tallest skyscrapers, the Shelton Hotel, in 1925. From her 30th-floor apartment, O'Keeffe had unobstructed views of the city, which inspired her to create paintings of the New York City skyscrapers and cityscapes.
Between 1925 and 1929, O'Keeffe created about 25 drawings and paintings of New York City skyscrapers. Her paintings of the skyscrapers were not just depictions of the buildings themselves, but also reflections of her feelings and ideas about the city. O'Keeffe's interest in painting cityscapes was influenced by her desire to capture the stimulus of living in a "roaring city".
One of her most notable paintings from this period is New York Street with Moon (1925), which reflects her opinion that "one can't paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt". The painting depicts the city skyscrapers with a sunset, moon, and fluffy clouds in the background. Another painting, The Shelton with Sunspots, N.Y. (1926), captures an optical illusion O'Keeffe observed of the Shelton Hotel, with "a bite out of one side of the tower made by the sun, with sunspots against the building and against the sky".
O'Keeffe's paintings of New York skyscrapers were an essential part of her oeuvre, and they contributed to her recognition as one of America's most important and successful artists by the mid-1920s. Her work during this period also included depictions of flowers, which were equally radical and contributed to her reputation as a significant modernist artist.
O'Keeffe's paintings of New York skyscrapers not only captured the splendour of these architectural wonders but also reflected her unique perspective on the city. Her work during this time demonstrated her ability to synthesise reality and decorative form, creating images that were both captivating and true to her artistic vision.
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O'Keeffe's work was influenced by the landscapes of New Mexico, which she first visited in 1916
Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, renowned for her contribution to modern art. She is best known for her large-format paintings of natural subjects, especially flowers and bones, as well as her depictions of New York City skyscrapers and landscapes of northern New Mexico. O'Keeffe's work was influenced by the landscapes of New Mexico, which she first visited in 1917, travelling from Texas to vacation in Colorado. She spent several days in New Mexico and instantly felt a connection to the land, later making it her permanent home in 1949.
O'Keeffe's paintings of New Mexico landscapes include depictions of the "Black Place", an area of wilderness in the Bisti Badlands, as well as the "White Place", a white rock formation near her Abiquiú house. She also painted the mountain Cerro Pedernal, viewed from her Ghost Ranch house, which was a favourite subject and featured in "My Front Yard, Summer, 1941". Other paintings inspired by New Mexico include "Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Marie’s II" (1930) and "Ladder to the Moon" (1958).
O'Keeffe's work was also influenced by the Native American and Hispanic cultures of the region. She created a new body of work based on the desert, adopting gender-neutral clothing and experiencing the psychological space and sexual freedom that other professional women in Santa Fe and Taos felt. She spent most summers living and working in New Mexico from the late 1920s onwards, and her time in the Southwest inspired paintings such as "Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue" (1931) and "Summer Days" (1936).
O'Keeffe's work in New Mexico is considered part of the Modernist movement, which sought to reject traditional artistic styles and find inspiration in the landscape and culture of the region. O'Keeffe brought her own modernist sensibilities and techniques to her New Mexico works, creating abstract compositions that remained true to the contours and colours of the land. Her paintings of New Mexico have been described as capturing a sense of "timeless beauty", with her unique artistic style allowing viewers to stand where she stood and see what she saw.
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O'Keeffe's paintings of flowers and desert landscapes were her most famous works
Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, renowned for her contribution to modern art. She gained international recognition for her paintings of natural forms, particularly flowers and desert-inspired landscapes. O'Keeffe's paintings of flowers and desert landscapes were her most famous works.
O'Keeffe's husband, Alfred Stieglitz, promoted her works of art. In the 1920s, he first espoused the theory that the paintings represented a woman's vulva. O'Keeffe consistently and vigorously denied the validity of Freudian interpretations of her art. However, feminist artists viewed this work as a centralised attention on the female sexual anatomy, seeing it as a sign of female empowerment. O'Keeffe's comfort with her sexuality is evident in the nude photographs taken of her by Stieglitz.
In 1929, O'Keeffe began spending part of the year in the Southwest, which served as inspiration for her paintings of New Mexico landscapes and images of animal skulls, such as Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue (1931) and Summer Days (1936). In 1933, O'Keeffe was hospitalized for two months after suffering a nervous breakdown due to Stieglitz's affair with Dorothy Norman. She did not paint again until January 1934, when she returned to New Mexico.
Between 1934 and 1936, she completed a series of landscape paintings inspired by the New Mexico desert, often with prominent depictions of animal skulls. In 1936, she completed one of her best-known paintings, Summer Days, which depicts a desert scene with a deer skull and vibrant wildflowers. Resembling Ram's Head with Hollyhock (1935), it depicted the skull floating above the horizon. In 1938, she painted Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory, a famous oil painting now owned by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
In the 1940s, O'Keeffe made an extensive series of paintings of "The Black Place", about 150 miles west of her Ghost Ranch house. She also painted the White Place, a white rock formation located near her Abiquiú house. In 1946, she began making the architectural forms of her Abiquiú house—the patio wall and door—subjects in her work. In 1949, she made the state her permanent home.
In the 1950s, O'Keeffe began to travel internationally, painting and sketching the mountain peaks of Peru and Japan's Mount Fuji. At the age of seventy-three, she took on a new subject: aerial views of clouds and sky. O'Keeffe painted her last unassisted oil painting in 1972, as she suffered from macular degeneration and failing vision. However, she continued to create art with the help of several assistants until her death in 1986.
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O'Keeffe's last unassisted oil painting was completed in 1972, despite her failing eyesight
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American modernist painter and draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades. She gained international recognition for her paintings of natural forms, particularly flowers and desert-inspired landscapes, which were often drawn from and related to places and environments in which she lived.
O'Keeffe's work remained largely independent of major art movements. She is known for her unique style and her paintings speak to the Modernist aesthetic of "less is more". O'Keeffe's simplification of shapes and forms in nature led to her being called a pioneer. She played an important part in the development of modern art in America, becoming the first female painter to gain respect in New York's art world in the 1920s.
In the 1950s, O'Keeffe began to travel internationally, painting and sketching the mountain peaks of Peru and Japan's Mount Fuji. At the age of 73, she took on a new subject: aerial views of clouds and sky. Despite suffering from macular degeneration and failing vision, O'Keeffe's will to create did not diminish. She painted her last unassisted oil painting in 1972.
However, O'Keeffe continued to create art even as her eyesight failed her. In 1977, at the age of 90, she said, "I can see what I want to paint. The thing that makes you want to create is still there." In the final years of her life, she enlisted the help of several assistants to continue making art. She drew on favourite motifs from memory and her vivid imagination.
Georgia O'Keeffe died in Santa Fe on March 6, 1986, at the age of 98. Her ashes were scattered over the New Mexico landscape she had loved for more than half a century.
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Frequently asked questions
In her later years, O'Keeffe's health and blindness hindered her ability to work. Her last unassisted oil painting was created in 1972, but she continued to create art with the help of assistants until her death in 1986. During this period, she drew on favourite motifs from memory and her imagination. Her large-scale cloud works were created in her garage in Abiquiú in 1965.
Georgia O'Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1916 and fell in love with the dramatic desert landscape. She painted the "Black Place", about 150 miles west of her Ghost Ranch house, and the "White Place", a white rock formation near her Abiquiú house.
While living in Texas, O'Keeffe painted the vast plains and open skies of West Texas, as well as the landscape configurations of nearby Palo Duro Canyon. She also created a watercolour series titled "Light Coming On the Plains".
