Georgia O'Keefe

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Georgia O'Keefe
Alfred Stieglitz
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Georgia OKeefe

• Born 1887 (very beginning of Impressionism in
  Europe) in Wisconsin
• Grew up on her parents farm
• Would later reflect in her artwork
• To offset isolation of farm life, children would
  listen to Wild West stories, play music, and take
  lessons in drawing and painting
• Decided at age 12 she would become an artist.

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Teenage Years

• Family moved to Virginia when Georgia was 15.
• Talent noticed by her art teacher
• Enrolled at Art Institute of Chicago (very
  prestigious college)
• Became very ill and had to quit school
• Transferred to Art Students League school
• Had to paint one picture a day (art is a process,
  not a product)

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Meeting Alfred

• Georgia started showing her art in 291, a small
  gallery owned by Alfred Stieglitz
• Mostly showed prestigious art of Henri Matisse
  and Paul Cezanne
• Turned off by straightforward one dimensional
  art of imitating other artists like Picasso and
  Rodin
• Began designing company logos and advertisements.
  

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Return to Art

• Took a summer course that focused on simple,
  clear forms to bring out the essence of things
• Focus on color, form and design (basic elements)
  and not the subject
• Became an assistant to the professor
• Branched out to abstract art
• Read a book by Wassily Kandinsky and changed her
  art into an inner expression

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Focus on Elements

• Special No. 21

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Return to Alfred

• Georgias new style of art is shown to Alfred for
  his gallery
• Described paintings as purest, finest, sincerest
  things that have entered 291 in a long while
• Exhibited her work without her permission in an
  exhibition about the ideas of Sigmund Freud
• OKeefe painted from subconscious

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Photographer

• Alfred asked Georgia if hew could photograph her
  to show the artist behind the paintings
• Some of his most famous photographs are of Georgia

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Love

• Georgia moves in with Alfreds niece and begins
  to paint exclusively
• Alfred begins to fall in love with her creative
  mind and leaves his wife for her
• We have talked over practically everything.
  Into one week we have compressed yearsI dont
  think there has been anything equal to it.
• Photographed her exclusively.

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Photos
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Music

• Begins to paint to music (like Kandinsky)
  focusing just on the design elements
• Artwork is getting noticed.

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Lake George

• Alfred and Georgia spend summers on Lake George
• Georgias most famous paintings are from Lake
  George
• Starts to focus on representational art

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Enter Flowers

• Georgia begins to combine abstract elements with
  actual flowers
• Close up of flower centers
• Intense, bright colors

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OKeefe Flowers
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Big City Life

• OKeefe became fascinated by NYCs forms and
  shapes
• Began to paint skyscrapers exclusively
• Meant to look fake, simple scenery

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City
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Move to a new home

• Battling breast cancer and Alfred cheating on her
  moves her to a more peaceful area New Mexico
• Wanted to return to simplicity wide open spaces
• Fell in love with nature
• Showed in artwork

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New Mexico
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The End

• Died in 1986 at age of 98
• Painted until the very end of her life