Georgia O'Keeffe

Painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, 1931
Picture By MetMuseum.org

      Iconic feminist artist Georgia O’Keeffe was one of the first female artists to depict simplistic objects, such as flowers and cow skulls, on a much larger scale in comparison to other artist. She is especially known for, not only the condensed yet detailed structure of her paintings, but their larger than life proportions. Although the size of her paintings seem to be grandiose author Sharyn R. Udall seems to think that O’Keeffe, herself, suffered from depression which was a major contributing factor to the success of her artwork. In Udall’s article “Georgia O’Keeffe and Emily Carr: Health, Nature, and Creative Process” she proceeds to inform us of the connection between O’Keeffe, her emotions, and her artwork.
     According to Udall, O’Keeffe suffered from patterns of depression which stemmed from numerous physical illnesses that she developed early on in her life as well as from aliments that her family endured. For example, at the age of eighteen she contracted typhoid, and the disease left her physically exhausted without hair and in low spirits. However, despite these troubling times O’Keeffe tried to maintain an optimistic mantra especially while her mother fought her last battle with tuberculosis. Unfortunately, in spite of her positivity O’Keefe fell victim to her depression only three months after the passing of her mother (Udall 20).
     But these devastating moments often worked in favor for O’Keeffe and her artwork. As she began to mature O’Keeffe recognized that her health and body image directly affected her artistic production this being because her “energies and emotions were intimately intertwined” as Udall describes. At times O’Keeffe seemed to recognize how life’s tensions undermined her art realizing that her mind and body functioned together both in sickness and in health and art seemed to lend itself therapeutically to her. In the year 1928, many of her canvasses seemed dark in coloration; including corn plants, abstractions, as well as a series of lack luster works she called Portrait a Day (Udall 23) which reflected the depression that she felt living the conservative city life.
     In 1929 O’Keeffe had still not adjusted to her metropolitan lifestyle so having to reside in New York her work often mirrored the dismay that she felt. Her paintings frequently evoked many torn, broken, and jagged edges as well as the New York skyline (Udall 24). During this period O’Keeffe was also struggling with the relationship she shared with her husband, artist --- Stieglitz and his growing infatuation for a woman named Dorothy Norman. Knowing that another summer spent with Stieglitz would create further depression and tension for herself she departed for Mexico that same year, which worked in favor of her paintings. During her time spent in Mexico O’Keeffe became physically and emotionally healthier than she had been in years (Udall 24) created some of the most upbeat pieces of art that she ever painted.
     Essentially, the story behind artist Georgia O’Keeffe is that emotions oftentimes were the fueling force behind her paintings. Frequently, the physical ailments that surrounded her contributed to the depression that she experienced but her depression often found escape through the canvas. Having endured many difficult life situations O’Keeffe learned how to maintain a balance between her emotions and her artwork, essentially leading to the success of her artistic career.

Works Cited

Udall, Sharyn R. "Georgia O'Keeffe and Emily Carr: Health, Nature and the Creative Process."Woman's Art Journal 27.1 (2006): 17-25. Wilson Webb. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.