Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

From Burden's Landing

217 Johnson St
Santa Fe, NM 87501
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/

Shared Intelligence: American Painting and the Photograph

A tremendous exhibit I got to see on my Santa Fe (May 2011) trip. Highlights:

  • I loved how the exhibit demonstrated the influence photography had on art and vice-versa. In particular, the close-up photo seemed to have a profound impact on art. Examples:
    • Paul Strand, Abstraction, Bowls (1916)
    • Paul Strand, Still-Life with Pears and Bowls (1916)
    • Edward Weston, Artichoke Halved (1930)
  • Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe -- Hands (1919). Wow, she had graceful, beautiful hands
  • Loved Georgia O'Keeffe's description of Roger Dow's philosophy of art: "His idea was to fill a space in a beautiful way."
  • I found two of Henry Koerner's paintings particularly haunting:
    • My Parents II (1946) -- yellow, dead leaves, forest, father walking in white on left, mother seated in black, separated by trees and leaves. Locket with picture of kids in left foreground
    • The Skin of our Teeth (1946) -- brick building facade, nature and bridge / cities in distance, Ferris wheel, harvesting, picking through bricks, dust
  • Curious about Sherrie Lewis's work. Explores issues of originality, authorship