Georgia O’Keeffe: “It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things”

Georgia O’Keeffe

In the Mind of Great Artists

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“It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things.”
Georgia O’Keeffe.

Georgia O’Keeffe did not belong to any particular avant-garde movement, but she is considered the great painter of modernism in the United States.

O’Keeffe’s work stands out for its detailed shots (the framing of a very specific part of an object, as opposed to a general shot) of flowers, architectural forms, animal bones, and the natural formations found in the New Mexico landscape.

What was the origin of her inquisitiveness? Photography influenced her greatly. Her partner and the great love of her life was the photographer Alfred Stieglitz. He introduced her to Paul Strand, who was the photographer who turned the real into abstraction, “cutting” detail shots of objects. His framings are so precise that the image is not recognized as part of any object; it is a pure abstract composition. Arthur Dove, Sieglitz’s friend, and who is considered to be the first painter to achieve pure abstraction in the United States, also influenced her greatly.

Something curious about the impact of the valuable way in which Georgia O’Keeffe made art and her lesson on the gaze: the first thing that strikes the eye in her work is that those detail shots of flowers look like female sexes. Many were disappointed when the artist declared that her intention was not for the viewer to see female sex symbols, but to see the real flowers for the first time.

Georgia O’Keeffe worked from a detail, and expanded that detail to a vast size. An innovative approach to abstraction. And, in short, a novel way of accomplishing one of the most sought-after achievements in art: being able to see things from a different perspective, as if for the first time.

This is the complete sentence of the painter: “Nothing is less real than realism ― details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get the real meaning of things.”

Image: White Lily No.7 (1957)

Recommended links:

Georgia O’Keeffe, Flowers and Sex.

The “Avant-garde” movements.

Primitivism in Modernity.

Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting: Mont Saint-Victoire, Cézanne.

Artistic Movements, Periods and Styles in 5 Points: When does Modern Art Start?

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