Georgia O’Ke­effe: Water­col­ors 1916 – 1918

Georgia O’Ke­effe: Water­col­ors docu­ments the first major exhi­bi­tion, held in 2016, of nearly 50 water­col­ors created by O’Keeffe between 1916 and 1918 during her time in Canyon, Texas.

This period repre­sents a trans­for­ma­tive phase in O’Keeffe’s career, where she solid­i­fied her commit­ment to abstrac­tion. Often seen as a precur­sor to her New York City career, these water­col­ors and draw­ings mark a crucial stage in her artis­tic devel­op­ment, reflect­ing the synergy between her disci­plined prac­tice and the inno­v­a­tive tech­niques inspired by her mentor, Arthur Wesley Dow.

In these works, O’Keeffe explores the textures and land­scapes of the Texas desert as well as her own body, using the deli­cate and expres­sive medium of water­color. Far from being mere exper­i­ments, these early creations stand as signif­i­cant achieve­ments in their own right. More­over, they fore­shadow her large-scale oil paint­ings, which echo the fluid­ity and vibrancy of water­color in their handling of color and texture.