Georgia's+Life+Story+by+Ms.+Blicha

ple said April, 2010 Historical Figure: Georgia O’Keeffe Autobiography By A. B.

=Georgia O’Keeffe =

=November 15, 1887-March 6, 1986 =

Greatest American Women Artist of the Modern Age

 I have had an amazing life full of adventure, love, and recognition as a famous abstract modernist artist during a male dominated world. Men are easily recognized for their achievements but women are often ignored. Other artists are usually not recognized until they have died or are known as the “starving artist,” but I broke through into the art world alive and strong. I will tell you that my success did not happen overnight. My artwork, as my complicated life, was a process. I had to experience everything to accomplish all of my life achievements. You probably know me from my oil paintings of animal skulls, //Cow Skull with Calico Rose//, and large flowers, //Morning Glory with Black or Oriented Poppies//, but there is so much more. So, let’s start at the beginning.

 I grew up in the small town of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin on a dairy farm, where I lived with my mother, father, brother, and five sisters. My mother felt art was one of the most important skills women could learn. She sent my sisters and me to art schools all over the country; Virginia, Chicago, and New York City. While at these schools, people said I was stubborn and did not follow the rules or dress like the other girls. I purposely chose things to be different. I felt I was not difficult. I was focused and maybe a little stubborn. Sometimes people would ask me what I wanted to do when I was grown up. I said I was going to be portrait artist. But as I studied art, I quickly changed my mind because people and animals were too expensive and difficult to paint.

 Then it happened, I won a scholarship for //Rabbit and Copper Pot// 1907 while attending the Art Students League in New York City. Things started to change, I started doing commercial/graphic artwork, basically painting and copying art. I could not stand it and it actually made me sick and temporarily blind. I destroyed all of my art from the past and stopped painting. After a while, I moved to Virginia to find my way back to art. “That which anyone can do, is not worth doing. If your drawing is just like your neighbor’s it has no value.” This became my belief system. Then, I went to Texas to explore and began teaching art classes to high school students. I again struggled with my work and again destroyed all of it. Then in 1915, I sent a friend a few abstract charcoal drawings. They were shown to Alfred Stieglitz, a famous gallery owner and photographer in New York City. He exhibited my drawings immediately then persuaded me to move to New York. This was my first exhibit in New York City in 1917. A few years later, we were married. We lived in Lake George, NY during the summers and New York City during the winters. I like the city. I started creating oil paints of the city. Then I found the beauty of flowers. I wanted the people of the city to see them close up for all of their beauty, especially against all the concrete that surrounds them. I was hoping they would see them and they did. Galleries were filled with my work and my career took off.

 But after a few years, I became restless and needed something more. I never felt at home in the East. So, I took a trip west in 1929 and discovered Abiquiu, New Mexico and its amazing desert. I instantly fell in love with it here and never wanted to leave. Stieglitz was still in New York. So, I told him I would spend the winters in New York City with him and spend my summers in New Mexico. It was very difficult on our marriage but I felt I had no choice. The desert is where I creatively became alive! It was where I was meant to be.

 While I was in New Mexico, I created oil paintings of the desert landscape. I worked from sunup to sundown in the hot sun. If it was too hot, you would find me painting in my car or even underneath it to get out of the hot sun. I then became fascinated and inspired by the bones of animals I found. I would take them to the dude ranch and bleach them. People think the skulls are about death. I did not. I saw them as shapes and loved painting them against the clear blue sky. I often added those fake flowers you would find in general stores to add color to the painting, because during the months I was there and because of the land, no flowers where around. The time I spent in New Mexico went by too quickly. I had to ship barrels of bones to New York so I could paint during the winter months.  During the winter months, Alfred and I often mingled with many famous artists. I would sit quietly listening and absorbing all of their insight. I never copied their works or styles. I always want to do my own thing the way I saw it and wanted to express it while never allowing myself to be overcome by the pressures of others. Therefore, when the world started to label my works with their own ideas of what they represented, I invited my husband, journalists, and photographers into my world to document it. Thank goodness technology advanced so quickly during my life. I controlled my image of my art and self, so society can see me for whom I really am.

 After Alfred passed away in 1946, I moved to permanently to New Mexico. I lived there from 1949 to 1984. I painted and explored the desert almost every day. I believe this is the most beautiful area of our country. I could not spend as much time in the hot sun as I did when I was younger, but I still feel the love and passion of this land to my dying day.

 I lived a long life and received countless honors and awards. I will leave numerous pieces of work becoming one of the most widely known painters in America. But, if I could tell you one thing I learned in my life it would be to follow you heart, your life’s passions, and do not let others define you. You create yourself for yourself. I was just a painter.

 **B**__**ibliography**__

 Venezia, Mike(1993). //Georgia O’Keeffe//. Danbury, CT: Children’s Press.  Wright, Susan (1996). //Georgia O’Keeffe: An Eternal Spirit//. NY,NY: Todtri Productions Limited.  Obrist, Kim (1980?) Interview with Georgia O’Keeffe age 92 in New Mexico. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYwKRVJaNEA <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> Georgia O’Keeffe Museum : retived March 28,2010 from http://www.okeeffemuesum.org