Red and Orange Streak

"Red and Orange Streak" (1919), Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986) (from the exhibition "Abstraction" at the Whitney) As Holland Cotter in the NYT said, there are two Georgia O’Keeffes. The most familiar is the who does all those cow skulls and flower paintings. I am sure it reveals me as an ignoramus, but I've never much liked them. The other O'Keeffe is the abstract painter. Her abstract works are, to me, much more interesting. But they are mostly overlooked and it's the flowers that she's known for. But the flower paintings didn't start til the 20s. Before that she'd been working on abstract drawings and, as Cotter says, they were "among the most radical creations produced in the United States at that time." Abstraction was simply the only kind of art, she said, that let her express her deepest feelings. She couldn't describe them with words. “Words and I are not good friends.” She had to paint them. Draw them. Here's another of my favorites. One of her small vertical pictures inspired by New York. "Abstraction", 1926 The show is at the Witney through Jan 17th. More here.