I selected Yousuf Karsh portrait of Georgia O’ Keefe to explore and educate myself about using light on an image. To marvel at their work and to ponder about the struggles they endured to bring their vision to life….it could not have been easy for them to this during a perioud when folks were not ready for their innovative and extraordinary works. Karsh was known as one of the greatest film photographer’s whose career span over a 50 year period. Karsh is known for photographing people in their own environments but had his own style. Imaging having the opportunity to photograph some of the most famous individuals in the world who contribute their gifts to the world and capturing it forever on film. It is amazing! I can only hope that I live a long life as these two great artist.
O’Keeffe played a central role in bringing an American art style toEurope at a time when the majority of influence flowed in the opposite direction. This feat enhanced her art-historical importance given that she was one of few women to have gained entry to this level of professional influence. She found artistic inspiration in the ruralSouthwest, particularly in New Mexico, where she settled late in life.
The art of Georgia O’Keeffe has been well known for eight decades in this country and for many years has been attaining similar prominence abroad. More than 500 examples of her works are in over 100 public collections in Asia, Europe, and North and Central America. In addition, since her work was first exhibited in New York in 1916, it has been included in hundreds of solo and group exhibitions organized around the world. Thus, it comes as something of a surprise to discover that at the time of her death in 1986, when she was ninety-eight, O’Keeffe owned more than one-half of the 2,029 known works of her total output.
” I said to myself ‘I have things in my head that are not like what anyone has taught me-shapes and ideas so near to my – so natural to my way of being and thinking that it hasn’t occurred to me to put them down.’ I decided to start anew to strip away what I had been taught…”
- Georgia O’ Keefe
More than 500 examples of her works are in over 100 public collections in Asia, Europe, and North and Central America. In addition, since her work was first exhibited in New York in 1916, it has been included in hundreds of solo and group exhibitions organized around the world. Thus, it comes as something of a surprise to discover that at the time of her death in 1986, when she was ninety-eight, O’Keeffe owned more than one-half of the 2,029 known works of her total output.
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