Georgia O'Keefe lived from 1887 to 1986 and painted throughout her life. In her earlier years, she was part of a group known as the Steiglitz Circle 291, started by her husband Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer. The circle of artists included painters and photographers attempting to forge an American style. They often exhibited their work in the Steiglitz gallery.

Although O'Keefe's training was completely native (American), you can see some European influence in her compositions and use of bright colors.

Working around several photographers in the Stieglitz Circle 291 may have affected her compositions as well. They resembled photos taken with a zoomed in lens with cropped images, sharp focus, and close up details.

Subjects of her paintings included barns, churches, skyscrapers, bleached cow bones and skulls, and of course, flowers. She often took objects out of their natural contexts, abstracting them while also adding an almost exotic overtone.

Her work was described as naturalistic, romantic, and as having "magical realism" quality.

Yellow Cactus Flower was completed in 1929. This painting offers a wonderful opportunity to see a familiar object--a flower--in a different way. Most people think of the daisy version of a flower, a circle with loops around it as petals. It's fun to help students identify how an artist represented a flower so clearly in a different way.

First, notice in the painting, that there are no lines drawn. Instead, lines are creating by different colors painted next to each other. Next, you can talk about the colors. Most people think that shadows are always black. Probably, when O'Keefe looked at a yellow-white flower, the shadows were more of a green color. This can lead to the most important thing to remember, that she was looking very closely at some actual flowers--either real life or a photo.

Other things that students may observe: the petals are very flowing, reminding one of water or cloth blowing in the breeze; there are a limited number of colors; there is a lot of color blending.

What is this painting of? How can you tell?
Are flowers usually painted like this?
How is this painting different?
Why do you think she painted them this way?
What colors do you see?
If you saw the real flower, what color would it be?
How does she use the color green?
Why did she add the little splashes of pink?
What does this painting remind you of?

Oil pastel, tempera paint, watercolor paint (advanced students only)

Provide real life flowers and plants. Ask students to choose one small part. Paint image using limited colors and composed so that the image is cropped.

Optional requirements: add a few bits of a complimentary color, include two main objects, use non-traditional colors for shadows.

©2001 Jennifer MacLeod