Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
The museum is dedicated to artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) and her works, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum was opened to the public in 1997. It possesses a collection of 3000 works, 140 of these being oil paintings from O’Keeffe, 700 drawings, and a great many works dating from the year 1901 to 1984, including works of modern art. The museum offers a chance for visitors to not only glimpse the artist’s work but her source of inspiration and creative process. See the light and landscape that produced one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. She herself described it as: “the wideness and wonder of the world as she lived in it.”
O’Keeffe’s art style is certainly unique and those who observe will recognize her abstractions and the depiction of natural wonders that includes flowers, bones, leaves, shells, and rocks. Her art also includes paintings of architecture unique to Northern New Mexico and the cityscapes of New York. The museum is certainly worth visiting throughout the year as different sets of pieces are showcased. The museum undertakes the responsibility of maintaining the properties of O’Keefe, a research center, and library.
Georgia O’Keeffe was born November 15, 1887, and grew up on a farm near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. During the years 1905 to 1906, she studied at the art institute of Chicago. She initially studied the traditional realism art style, but soon was exposed to the ideas of Arthur Wesley Dow. He influenced her into the trend of modern art and she embarked on her own journey of experimentation. Her personal search yielded results and she became one of the first American artists to produce pure abstraction. She was forced into retirement in 1984 due to failing eyesight.
Museum
The museum is located near the Santa Fe Plaza and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday – Monday. It is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Reservations are accepted and tickets are limited, so visit the museum’s website to order your tickets in advance.
Tours
Trips to O’Keefe’s property, which includes her homes and studios, are scheduled via appointment. Her home is located 60 miles northwest of Santa Fe, in the village of Abiquiu. The museum has certainly invested in technology, allowing self-guided app tours and membership. Visit the website for inquiries and details on these trips.
Research center
The research center focuses on exploring, advancements and conceptualizes new ideas on artist Georgia O’Keeffe, American modernism, and museum studies. New ideas are expounded through academic activities, fellowships, and other programs.
Modernism and Modern art
A majority of the museum’s activities are dedicated to American modernism. The philosophical movements and cultural trends of the 19th and 20th centuries define modernism and the changes it has brought. The pioneers of modernism felt that the traditional quickly become dated and ill-suited to their lives. Everything from art, architecture, religious faith, philosophy, sciences, and social organization did not fit with the modern industrialized world.
Related with modernism is modern art, it dates approximately from the period 1860 to 1970 that follows the theme of experimentation and abandonment of traditions. Experimentation with colors and new perceptions of natural or imagined subjects of interest, the art style was a radical shift away from norms. New artists of the era revolutionized the world with multi colored works of expression. The pioneers of modern art were romantics, realists and modernists.
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
217 Johnson St., Santa Fe
