Modern Nature: Georgia O'Keeffe and Lake George

by Erin B. Coe, Bruce Robertson, Gwendolyn Owens

From 1918 until the early 1930s, Georgia O’Keeffe lived for part of the year on Alfred Stieglitz’s family estate at Lake George, New York. O'Keeffe and Stieglitz stayed there from spring until fall, and she reveled in the discovery of new subject matter. She found respite in the bucolic setting, and in her studio, nicknamed “the shanty,” she could concentrate on her work without the distractions of city life and the Stieglitz clan that congregated at the lake in the summer months. The Lake George retreat provided the basic material for her art, while evoking the spirit of place that was essential to O’Keeffe’s modern approach to the natural world.This book, and the exhibition it accompanies, examines the extraordinary body of work O’Keeffe created there, from magnified botanical compositions of the flowers and vegetables she grew in her garden to a group of remarkable still lifes of the apples and pears that she picked. O’Keeffe became fascinated with the variety of trees that grew there, and they were the subject of at least twenty-five compositions. Architectural subjects emerged as a theme, as did a number of panoramic landscape paintings and bold, color-filled abstractions. During this highly productive period, O’Keeffe created more than two hundred paintings on canvas and paper in addition to sketches and pastels, making the Lake George years among the most prolific and transformative of her seven-decade career. 

Genres: Art, Biography, Nonfiction

200 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2013

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joint collaboration between The Hyde Collection of Glens Falls, NY and the Georgia O'Keefe Museum of Santa Fe, NM, this book addresses recent research of Georgia O'Keefe's time spent at Lake George from her first visit as an art student in 1908 until 1949 when she permanently relocated to New Mexico. The resulting exhibit traveled to only three locations, Glens Falls, Santa Fe was well as the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in 2013 and 2014. Researching Lake George specific items, many of which have been handed down in the Steiglitz family, the authors present an updated view of the importance of this time period on Georgia O'Keefe, the woman and the artist. Many of the paintings which have rarely been seen before as they are held in private collections, show great similarity to her later and better known images of the southwest. This very scholarly work is a must for anyone interested in American art of this era.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, very interesting and informative.