Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986)

Course description

Georgia O’Keeffe, born in Wisconsin, USA in 1887, came to hold the position as her nation’s outstanding female painter of the 20th century. She achieved a vaulted status while in the relatively early stages of her career and upheld this position throughout her long and productive career.

We will explore Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and works and in so doing bring in other artists as well as topics of context including geography, politics, philosophy, religion and spirituality, literature and history. While examining various themes we will trace the growth and changes in O’Keeffe and her art with attention to the broader artistic and social background providing the context.

Some of the main themes in this course will be O’Keeffe’s relationship with the landscape and Indigenous peoples of New Mexico, her career as an art teacher, her life with Alfred Steiglitz and her circle of creative writers, painters, photographers and playwrights. We will closely examine her sketches, paintings and sculptures from her early childhood until the end of her long and prolific career. Each lecture will feature abundant images of work in both public and private collections.