Artwork Page for White Flower

Details / Information for White Flower

White Flower

1929

Georgia O'Keeffe

(American, 1887–1986)
Culture
America
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 80 x 95.3 x 4.5 cm (31 1/2 x 37 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 76.2 x 91.5 cm (30 x 36 in.)
Credit Line
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1930.2162
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

This was the first flower painting by Georgia O'Keeffe to be purchased by an art museum.

Description

O’Keeffe is best known for close-up flower subjects whose magnified forms fill the entire space of each canvas. Likely inspired by similar compositions in modern photography, these images are not only celebrations of natural forms, but also striking essays in abstract design. Although many critics interpreted O’Keeffe’s flower paintings as reflections of femininity in general and female sexuality in particular, the artist strongly opposed such readings. Throughout most of her career, she frequently attempted to persuade others to discuss her work without referring to her gender, writing on one occasion, “I have always been very annoyed at being referred to as a ‘woman artist’ rather than an ‘artist.’”
A horizontally oriented oil painting depicts a flower, smooth white petals extending across the entire canvas and conveyed with arcing strokes. At the center of the flower a green, bud-shaped protrusion purses slightly to reveal a brown interior with orange spots clustering in a circle around it, hazy yellow seeping out from the center onto the petals. In the upper left and right corners hints of spiked leaves blend into a misting of white.

White Flower

1929

Georgia O'Keeffe

(American, 1887–1986)
America

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