Georgia O'Keeffe's turn toward abstraction: luscious watercolors of the Texan landscape and her own body
Georgia O’Keeffe: Watercolors catalogues the first major exhibition of the nearly 50 watercolors created by O’Keeffe between 1916 and 1918, while she lived in Canyon, Texas. These years mark a period of radical innovation for the artist, during which she firmly established her commitment to abstraction. While her work in Texas is often understood as merely a prelude to her career in New York City, these watercolors and drawings mark a seminal stage in O’Keeffe’s artistic formation, representing the pivotal intersection of her disciplined art practice and her allegiance to the revolutionary techniques of her mentor, Arthur Wesley Dow.
O’Keeffe’s watercolors explore the texture and landscape of the Texas desert and the artist’s own body in an exceptionally fragile and sensitive medium, representing a substantial achievement in their own right. These early works also relate to O’Keeffe’s large-scale oil paintings, which in their handling of color and texture in some ways seem to aspire to the condition of watercolor. Designed to emphasize direct contact with these beautiful works, Watercolors features full-scale color reproductions of the paintings, most of which are approximately 8x12 inches in scale, offering a powerful testament to the significance of the watercolors in O’Keeffe’s creative evolution. Also included (in a wallet at the rear of the book) is a lengthy essay by Amy Von Lintel featuring archival photographs of O'Keeffe from these years.
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) is best known for her distinctive paintings of flowers and landscapes which applied a precise, often hard-edged abstract language to evocative natural forms. Dubbed the "mother of American modernism," O’Keeffe produced more than 1,000 artworks in a career of more than 60 years.
Featured image is reproduced from Georgia O'Keeffe: Watercolors.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Another Magazine
Maisie Skidmore
series of strikingly raw studies which contain the hallmarks that would later define her practice: bold, abstract shapes; gradients of vibrant colour; the juxtaposition of intimately feminine curves alongside industrially masculine landscapes. It’s a breathtaking clue about what would develop into one of the most groundbreaking and important artistic careers of the 20th century.
Hyperallergic
Thomas Micchelli
…a resolutely American original.
Los Angeles Times
Karen Wada
Georgia O'Keeffe's early watercolor paintings: Vivid, free-wheeling and full of surprise
The Cut
Sarah Spellings
the fragility and vibrancy of the watercolors.... featuring pink snow, green steam rising from a barren landscape, and abstract blue figure drawings
Arizona Daily Star
Bill Broyles
No Southwest artist is more revered than Georgia O'Keeffe…. [a] beautiful Southwest book.
STATUS: Out of stock
Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
"Publisher David Chickey launched nonprofit Radius Books in Santa Fe so he could keep the profile small—and produce art monographs that prioritize inventive design." Read more from the profile in this weekend's Wall Street Journal Magazine below! continue to blog
In a 1916 letter to Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe wrote, “The sky was like a wonderful jewel—darkest in the center—light around the edges. I’ve always wanted to touch it—since I was a little girl—and it always seems more wonderful—I’m wanting it more. It makes me feel like such a little girl." This quotation and the 1916/17 painting "No. 22 – Special" are reproduced from Radius Books' superb monograph, Georgia O'Keeffe: Watercolors, a staff pick for Women's History Month, 2021. continue to blog
"Evening Star No. IV" (1917) is reproduced from Georgia O'Keeffe: Watercolors, published by Radius Books to accompany the exhibition on view at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe through October. Of all the books on our Spring/Summer list, this one may have elicited the most oohs and ahhs. Featuring almost 50 gorgeous full scale color reproductions of the watercolors O'Keeffe made between 1916 and 1918 (while she lived in Canyon, Texas), this book contains six gatefolds and a surprise separate booklet (in a wallet attached to the inside back cover) with essay by Amy Von Lintel and an assortment of archival photographs. Under the jacket is another surprise: "Evening Star No. IV" is reproduced, beautifully, as a wraparound image on the cover. continue to blog
This 1918 Alfred Stieglitz photograph of Georgia O'Keeffe in Canyon, Texas, is reproduced from Radius Books' remarkable Georgia O'Keeffe: Watercolors. "What we see in the young O'Keeffe in Texas is already a well defined, if still developing, personality," Amy Von Lintel writes in the separate, enclosed archival photo essay with essay. "She was not yet the famous artist hounded by adoring fans, but her strong sense of self was prominent. On the one hand, she was a playful, joyful, ever-smiling young woman filled with passion and wonder… On the other hand, she was stubborn, opinionated and fiercely independent, doing things her own way even if it meant insulting people, getting evicted, or being fired from her job." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 10 x 13 in. / 140 pgs / 55 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $79 GBP £53.00 ISBN: 9781942185048 PUBLISHER: Radius Books/Georgia O'Keeffe Museum AVAILABLE: 6/28/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Radius Books/Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Text by Amy Von Lintel.
Georgia O'Keeffe's turn toward abstraction: luscious watercolors of the Texan landscape and her own body
Georgia O’Keeffe: Watercolors catalogues the first major exhibition of the nearly 50 watercolors created by O’Keeffe between 1916 and 1918, while she lived in Canyon, Texas. These years mark a period of radical innovation for the artist, during which she firmly established her commitment to abstraction. While her work in Texas is often understood as merely a prelude to her career in New York City, these watercolors and drawings mark a seminal stage in O’Keeffe’s artistic formation, representing the pivotal intersection of her disciplined art practice and her allegiance to the revolutionary techniques of her mentor, Arthur Wesley Dow.
O’Keeffe’s watercolors explore the texture and landscape of the Texas desert and the artist’s own body in an exceptionally fragile and sensitive medium, representing a substantial achievement in their own right. These early works also relate to O’Keeffe’s large-scale oil paintings, which in their handling of color and texture in some ways seem to aspire to the condition of watercolor. Designed to emphasize direct contact with these beautiful works, Watercolors features full-scale color reproductions of the paintings, most of which are approximately 8x12 inches in scale, offering a powerful testament to the significance of the watercolors in O’Keeffe’s creative evolution. Also included (in a wallet at the rear of the book) is a lengthy essay by Amy Von Lintel featuring archival photographs of O'Keeffe from these years.
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) is best known for her distinctive paintings of flowers and landscapes which applied a precise, often hard-edged abstract language to evocative natural forms. Dubbed the "mother of American modernism," O’Keeffe produced more than 1,000 artworks in a career of more than 60 years.
