»One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt,« said the painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) about her views of the city. The paintings were created in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when O'Keeffe lived in New York as a painter who was already well-known in the USA. She lived on the 30th floor of the Shelton Hotel, the tallest residential building in the world at the time, and was fascinated by the perspective that presented itself to her. Whether from a bird's-eye or a frog's-eye view, O'Keeffe experimented with perspective and examined the organic structures of urban development. The exhibition is the first to focus on this creative phase of the famous painter, which predates her world-famous abstract flower paintings by several years. The exhibits promise exciting insights into the career of an up-and-coming artist who was to become an icon. Georgia O'Keeffe: My New Yorks can be seen at the Art Institute of Chicago from June 2 to September 22.
O'Keeffe is best known for her landscapes and (abstract) flower paintings. These works were created from the mid-1930s, when the artist spent more time in New Mexico following depression and a nervous breakdown. From 1949, she lived at Ghost Ranch in the north of the state. In 1943, the Art Institute of Chicago was the first museum to honor O'Keeffe with a retrospective. With the current exhibition, it is once again playing an important role in the reception of the painter, who created a more complex oeuvre than many are aware of.
