Georgia O’Keeffe

Arthur Dove

A current exhibit at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (“The Clark”) is Circles of Influence. It displays the intertwined influences between two great painters, Georgia O’Keeffe and Arthur Dove.

Please read this fascinating blurb about two 20th century master painters and how they created a new wave of art.

Cow’s Skull, 1931 Georgia O’Keeffe

Red Canna, 1925 Georgia O’Keeffe

Clark Art Institute
Circles of Influence: June 7 – September 7, 2009
Alfred Stieglitz, “Georgia O’Keeffe,” 1918. Palladiotype. The Art Institute of Chicago. Alfred Stieglitz Collection [© 2009 Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York] Alfred Stieglitz, “Arthur G. Dove,” 1923. Gelatin silver print. Philadelphia Museum of Art. From the Collection of Dorothy Norman, 1967 [© 2009 Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York]

The evocative paintings of flowers and southwestern landscapes by Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) have long defined her role as a distinctly American icon and one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century. Yet a vital factor in her early development is frequently overlooked: from the outset of her career in the 1910s, O’Keeffe credited the work of Arthur Dove (1880–1946) as her primary introduction to modern art. Dove, acknowledged as America’s first abstract painter, used colorful, dynamic forms to reflect his sensitive communion with the physical world, an approach that inspired the young O’Keeffe to experiment with abstraction. The two artists eventually met in 1918, introduced by the photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz (who would later become O’Keeffe’s husband), and they maintained a lifelong respect for each other’s work. Dove/O’Keeffe: Circles of Influence explores the visual and thematic interests shared by these two pioneers of twentieth-century painting, examining Dove’s role in O’Keeffe’s early practice and O’Keeffe’s subsequent impact on Dove’s work. Over the course of several decades, their artistic dialogue yielded a form of modernism grounded in direct, emotional responses to nature, and their profound aesthetic connection helped shape the course of art in America.

I was not permitted to take photographs of the art works but I am including some links with information and examples of this mutual influence.
~Georgia O’Keefe Museum
~Arthur Dove watercolors at the Alexandre Gallery

What I have learned: That there were several periods to O’Keeffe’s work, beyond her famous flowers, that she was influenced by another painter who, in turn, was influenced by her. This was a kind of mutual symbiotic artistic relationship.

Two paintings by Arthur Dove.

Me and the M\oon, 1937 Arthur Dove

Goat, 1934 Arthur Dove

Meanwhile, not far away on the campus of Williams College, is a wonderful exhibit on Maurice Prendergast, “Prendergast in Italy“

Prendergast in Italy traces the footsteps of Maurice Prendergast as he painted his way through Italy in 1898-1899 and through Venice again in 1911. Approximately seventy watercolors, oils, and monotypes by Maurice Prendergast will be on view, along with related letters, prints, photographs, films, guidebooks, and sketchbooks to situate the work within the new visual culture that Americans had embraced by 1900.

Prendergast in Italy will be accompanied by a major book on Prendergast’s Italian works. The exhibition travels to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (October 9, 2009-January 3, 2010) and to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (February 14-May 9, 2010.)

Again, no photographs were permitted, but I have found a few examples to share.

reply sousonne wrote on Jul 25, ’09 What a great collection..

reply starfishred wrote on Jul 26, ’09 oh how I envy you sue sigh –

reply catfishred wrote on Jul 26, ’09 Wow, aren’t these lovely? And lucky you to see O’Keeffe originals so ‘close up and personal’. I’ve been a fan of hers from way back, seeing some of her work in Taos and Santa Fe but not enough. I was always over-awed by the few NY scapes she painted. What sweeping passion and flow of vision. The stark bone was a colour that she mastered; yet, these were not my favourite of hers. Thanks for the effort of such a lovely post!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jul 26, ’09 You’re so welcome! Now why is one of Dove’s paintings missing?? OY VAY! Art thieves on my blog!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jul 26, ’09 Ha! it reappeared, I guess I scared them!

reply caffeinatedjo wrote on Jul 26, ’09 I like those paintings by Arthur Dove…never even heard of him before. You are a lucky duck to be able to see the grand cultural side of this world and this country.