Georgia O’Keeffe-Cow’s Skull Red, White and Blue -1931
I don’t know if I have talked much about Georgia ‘OKeeffe (1887-1985) here on the blog. Her work was a big influence on me when I was starting, especially with her use of bold, clear color and in the way she pared away detail in her compositions, leaving only the essential. Her lines and forms were always organic and natural, something in them almost creating a harmony or vibration that easily meshed with the viewer on a gut level.
I was looking at films of artists at work earlier and came across a short segment from a 1977 documentary by filmmaker Perry Miller Adato that was aired on PBS at the time to mark O’Keeffe 90th birthday. I was immediately captivated by the film of her as younger woman early in her time in New Mexico set against her at 90, listening to talk about paintings that were based on the bones she found in the high desert, telling a bit about the iconic painting shown here.
Her words were direct and plain-spoken in a mid-western voice that reflected her mid-western upbringing. There’s an interesting juxtaposition of her speaking in very simple terms about her work set against a curator speaking in a bit of artspeak. I’m not saying his point wasn’t valid. It was just interesting to see how she spoke easily on the subject, it all being just a part of who she was.
It was just a neat clip that reminded me of why I liked her work so much in those early years. As I said, this is just a clip and I am sorry that I don’t know where you can see the entire film. But enjoy this and perhaps you’ll stumble across the whole film some other day.
Redtree Times 
I’m astonished. My favorite piece about Georgia O’Keefe is an essay Joan Didion incuded in her book, “The White Album.” Some of what O’Keefe says in this clip was quoted verbatim in Didion’s piece. But she also has other stories from O’Keefe in that piece, and now I suspect they might be in other pieces of this documentary. I’lll find the whole thing. If I can’t do it easily, I have a friend who worked for PBS for years. She’ll know how to get it.
what a refreshing visit you have given us with ms o’keeffe! i enjoyed every second. thank you for this! z
Ms. O’Keefe taught for several years in Amarillo, TX, which is about 100 miles north of where I live. Her remark about the bones against the sky made me smile. We have an awful lot of sky out here. The area where she lived and worked near Abiquiu, Ghost Ranch, is now owned by the Presbyterian Church USA. They have the land as a reserve and maintain space for retreats. My dad went to several retreats there. They saw her once out painting without any idea who she was. Even when they were told who she was, the name didn’t ring a bell — LOL!
That’s pretty neat. I don’t think I’m surprised about your dad not recognizing her or her name. I don’t think mine and most of my aunts and uncles would know or care who she was.
On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 2:42 AM, Redtree Times wrote:
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