The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 14, 2024

White Flower

White Flower

1929
(American, 1887–1986)
America, 20th century
oil on canvas
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.)
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1930.2162
© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Apparently this was the first flower painting by 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.’”
  • (Alfred Stieglitz, An American Place, New York, NY)
  • Georgia O'Keeffe. Naturalezas íntimas: Fundación Juan March, Madrid, 8 febrero - 2 junio 2002. Madrid: Arte y Ciencia Editorial, 2001. cat. no. 18, illus.
    Frelik, Edyta, "She Did Know a Few Things:Georgia O'Keeffe as an Intellectual," Polish Association for American Studies (July 2022). Mentioned pp. 49-50.
    Davis, John and Michael Leja, eds. Art of the United States, 1750-2000: Primary Sources (Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2020). Mentioned p. 309.
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of an Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: [Printed by the Artcraft Printing Co.], 1937. Mentioned: p. 36, no. 152
    Milliken, William M. “White Flower by Georgia O’Keeffe.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 24, no. 4 (April 1937): 50–53. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 50-53 www.jstor.org
    Flint Institute of Arts. Art of the Twenties : American Painting at the Crossroads : Flint Institute of Arts, November 16, 1978-January 21, 1979. [Flint, Mich.]: The Institute, 1978. Mentioned: p. 55-56, no 41; Reproduced: p. 43.
    Neet, Jane. “Mondrian’s ‘Chrysanthemum.’” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 7 (September 1987): 282–303. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 289, fig. 9 www.jstor.org
    Adams, Henry. What's American about American art?: a gallery tour in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008. Reproduced: fig. 6, p. 11
    O'Keeffe, Georgia, Alfred Stieglitz, and Sarah Greenough. My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2011. Mentioned: p. 539, 542
    O'Hern, John. "Metropolitan Muse." American Fine Art Magazine 76 (July/August 2024): 42-47. Reproduced: p. 44; Mentioned: p. 46
  • Georgia O'Keeffe: "My New Yorks". The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (June 2-September 22, 2024) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9539/georgia-o-keeffe-my-new-yorks; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (October 25, 2024-February 16, 2025).
    Georgia O'Keeffe, Photographer. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (organizer) (October 17, 2021-January 17, 2022) https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/georgia-okeeffe-photographer; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA (February 27-June 5, 2022); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (July 3-November 6, 2022); The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (February 1-May 1, 2023).
    Georgia O'Keeffe and the Southwestern Still Life. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN (October 30, 2014-February 15, 2015).
    Georgia O'Keeffe: Naturalezas Intimas. Fundacion Juan March (organizer) (February 8-June 2, 2002).
    The Precisionist Aesthetic in American Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 24-April 9, 1989).
    The Georgia O'Keeffe Gift. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 4-November 15, 1987).
    Circa 1930. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 12-October 31, 1983).
    Art of the Twenties: American Painting at the Crossroads. Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI (organizer) (November 16, 1978-January 21, 1979).
    The Modern Spirit: American Painting 1908-35. Gallery of the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (August 19-September 11, 1977); Hayward Gallery, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (September 28-November 20, 1977).
    Georgia O'Keeffe, 12th Annual Festival of the Arts. Kohler Gallery, Dahland Fine Arts Center, Milton College, Milton WI (April 20–May 10, 1965)
    Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937).
    The Art of Today: An Exhibition of Contemporary Pictures and Sculptures Arranged and Sponsored by the Women's Advisory Committee of the Albright Art Gallery. Buffalo, Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery (December 21, 1935–February 6, 1936).
    Autumn Flower Show. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-December 1, 1935).
    Tenth Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 6-July 7, 1930).
    Georgia O'Keeffe: 27 New Paintings, New Mexico, New York, Lake George, Etc.. New York, An American Place (February 7–March 17, 1930), exh. checklist no. 9 as White Flower, N.M..
  • {{cite web|title=White Flower|url=false|author=Georgia O'Keeffe|year=1929|access-date=14 September 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.2162