Georgia O'Keeffe
Zooming in and cropping opens up an unfamiliar perspective on familiar shapes.
Key ideas
O'Keeffe worked with abstraction, flowers, architecture and landscape. An enlarged natural form can occupy almost the entire canvas: contours and color transitions become an independent event. Her artistic language was formed through observation and transformation of what she saw.
Looking deeper
Do not limit your reading of floral images to one ready-made symbolism. First, describe the scale, curves, edges, and color transitions. Then compare them with architectural or landscape works: this makes it easier to see the connection between different subjects within her practice.
Floral arrangements, images of New York skyscrapers and landscapes of New Mexico.
Find the work in the museum's official catalog and start with a description of the visible details.Take three frames of one plant leaf on paper: whole, close-up, and with the edge trimmed. Compare your impressions.
Useful terms
- Cropping
- The choice of image boundaries, which determines which parts of the motif will be included in the field of view.
External educational material or museum catalogue. The above review is not a literal translation of the source.