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A canvas drenched in sunset hues,[br]colors radiating like flame.

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At first glance, this painting may appear [br]to be an impossible, abstract image.

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But a closer look reveals [br]the tender stems,

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lush petals and velvety texture [br]of a Canna Lily.

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This metamorphosis of natural subjects[br]into abstract geometry

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is commonplace in the work [br]of Georgia O’Keeffe—

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the revolutionary American painter [br]and sculptor.

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But the magic behind [br]this transformation remains

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just as elusive as the artist herself.

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Born in Wisconsin in 1887, O’Keeffe spent[br]her childhood plucking wildflowers

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and arranging fruits to paint.

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At seventeen, she moved to Chicago [br]to study at the prestigious Art Institute.

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Her teachers trained her [br]to faithfully reproduce reality

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in the conventions of European masters.

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Although she enjoyed the solitude [br]and precision of this work,

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O’Keeffe felt little [br]personal connection to it.

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After moving to New York, she was [br]increasingly drawn to the clean lines,

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striking composition and vivid colors [br]of Japanese art.

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O’Keeffe soon found a teacher [br]whose lessons inspired her

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to put those interests into practice.

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Unlike her previous teachers,

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Arthur Wesley Dow urged his students[br]to focus on more abstract representations

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of light, shape, and color.

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These lessons manifested in O’Keeffe’s[br]first series of abstract drawings.

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Rendered in charcoal, they present [br]a series of undulating lines,

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bold shading and billowing clouds.

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These drawings defy easy classification—

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suggesting, but never quite matching,[br]any specific natural reference.

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Earlier European painters [br]in the Cubist tradition

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had employed rigid geometry[br]to abstract external subjects.

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But here, O’Keeffe employed [br]the shapes and rhythms of nature

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to capture her internal feelings.

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Experiments like these [br]would soon become a cornerstone

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of an artistic movement [br]called American Modernism.

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Although no single style defines [br]Modernist painting,

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its proponents shared a desire [br]to challenge the realist traditions

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that dominated art education.

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Beginning in the late 1910’s, [br]Modernist painting

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often used geometric shapes [br]and bold colors

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to probe the American psyche.

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O’Keeffe threw herself [br]into these experiments —

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but she was reluctant [br]to share her new work.

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However, when a friend sent her charcoals[br]to the art dealer Alfred Stieglitz,

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he became entranced.

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In 1916, he arranged [br]for a grand exhibition in New York.

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This marked the beginning of O’Keeffe’s[br]career as a popular artist—

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and a relationship that would lead [br]to marriage in 1924.

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Marriage didn’t diminish O’Keeffe’s[br]taste for solitude.

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She travelled widely to teach,

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and often retreated to paint [br]for months at a time.

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Whether she was exploring [br]the craggy canyons of Texas,

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the quiet forests of South Carolina, [br]or the sun-bleached desert of New Mexico,

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her creative process was based on [br]ritual and close observation.

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She paid meticulous attention [br]to small details,

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and spent hours mixing paints [br]to create exactly the right colors.

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When she found the perfect hue,[br]she’d record it

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in her ever-growing collection[br]of handmade color cards.

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O’Keeffe also experimented [br]with perspective to celebrate objects

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that were often overlooked.

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In "Rams Head with Hollyhock,"

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she places a weathered skull [br]and a delicate flower

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high above the hills below.

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This massive skull overshadows [br]the landscape,

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casting both the skeleton [br]and the mountains in a new, eerie light.

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The public was captivated by her [br]unique perspective and secretive behavior.

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She was particularly praised [br]for her massive flower paintings,

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ranging from fiery poppies [br]to ghostly calla lillies.

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Stieglitz and other critics of the time [br]were infatuated by Freudian psychology,

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and were quick to link these paintings[br]to female genitalia.

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But O’Keeffe dismissed [br]such interpretations.

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She resented the male gaze [br]that dominated the art world,

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and demanded her work be respected

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for its emotional evocation [br]of the natural world.

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Eventually, O’Keeffe settled down [br]in New Mexico,

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near one of her favorite artist retreats.

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In her 70’s, her eyesight began to fail,

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but she continued to mine the landscape’s[br]mysteries in new, tactile mediums.

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O’Keeffe kept creating [br]until her death at 98,

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and is remembered as [br]the “Mother of American Modernism.”

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Decades on, her work retains [br]its wild energy—

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and O’Keeffe her personal mystique.