CULTIVATING VISION AGAINST SOCIETAL CONSTRAINTS

Abstract

This paper re-examines Georgia O'Keeffe's (1887-1986) modernism, highlighting her emphasis on immediate, often overlooked beauty. Through close-ups of flowers, monumental skyscrapers (‘Radiator Building’), and symbolic desert compositions (‘Cow Skull: Red, White and Blue’), the study shows how O'Keeffe invited contemplation of fragile beauty in ordinary objects. It argues her selection of flowers, architecture, and desert finds consistently glorifies life's visual elements, counteracting trends that suppress appreciation.

Proposal Summary

This paper explores Georgia O'Keeffe's enduring legacy as a sensitive modernist who consistently emphasized the intrinsic beauty of the world, often overlooked amidst daily life's coarseness. By analyzing her iconic close-ups of flowers, monumental skyscraper depictions like ‘Radiator Building’, and symbolic desert compositions such as ‘Cow Skull: Red, White and Blue’, the study argues that O'Keeffe's artistic choices were a lifelong commitment to glorifying visual elements of life. This deliberate focus served as a powerful counter-narrative to historical trends that tend to suppress or distort aesthetic appreciation, inviting viewers to rediscover fragile beauty in the mundane, urban, and desolate.

Target Audience: Art historians, cultural studies scholars, admirers of modernist art, and those interested in the intersection of art and philosophy.