No. 15 Special
Georgia O'Keeffe, American, 1887 - 1986
Geography:
Made in United States, North and Central America
Date:
1916-1917Medium:
Charcoal on laid paperDimensions:
Sheet: 18 7/8 × 24 3/8 inches (47.9 × 61.9 cm)Curatorial Department:
Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
1997-39-1Credit Line:
125th Anniversary Acquisition. Purchased with the gift (by exchange) of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Todd Makler, with funds contributed by Mr. and Mrs. John J. F. Sherrerd, the Alice Newton Osborn Fund, the Lola Downin Peck Fund, and gift of The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, 1997
Made in United States, North and Central America
Date:
1916-1917Medium:
Charcoal on laid paperDimensions:
Sheet: 18 7/8 × 24 3/8 inches (47.9 × 61.9 cm)Curatorial Department:
Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
* Special Exhibition Galleries, first floor (Dorrance Galleries)
Accession Number:1997-39-1Credit Line:
125th Anniversary Acquisition. Purchased with the gift (by exchange) of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Todd Makler, with funds contributed by Mr. and Mrs. John J. F. Sherrerd, the Alice Newton Osborn Fund, the Lola Downin Peck Fund, and gift of The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, 1997
Label:
This drawing is one of several made in 1915-16 that O'Keeffe regarded as pivotal in her artistic development. She recalled the moment of its making as a sort of revelation, which she described with characteristically straightforward yet poetic phrasing: "I realized that I had things in my head not like what I had been taught not like what I had seen shapes and ideas so familiar to me that it hadn't occurred to me to put them down." Among these "shapes and ideas" were memories of the Palo Duro Canyon, today a scenic attraction of the Texas panhandle, that O'Keeffe remembered as a solitary and protective refuge. She and one of her sisters would negotiate steep descents into the canyon floor, reveling in the combined sensation of adventure and fear: "Those perilous climbs were frightening but they were wonderful to me and not like anything I had known before." One may guess that O'Keeffe viewed her artistic career as a similarly adventurous undertaking, an exploration that brought her solace and protection mixed with nervous excitement.
This drawing is one of several made in 1915-16 that O'Keeffe regarded as pivotal in her artistic development. She recalled the moment of its making as a sort of revelation, which she described with characteristically straightforward yet poetic phrasing: "I realized that I had things in my head not like what I had been taught not like what I had seen shapes and ideas so familiar to me that it hadn't occurred to me to put them down." Among these "shapes and ideas" were memories of the Palo Duro Canyon, today a scenic attraction of the Texas panhandle, that O'Keeffe remembered as a solitary and protective refuge. She and one of her sisters would negotiate steep descents into the canyon floor, reveling in the combined sensation of adventure and fear: "Those perilous climbs were frightening but they were wonderful to me and not like anything I had known before." One may guess that O'Keeffe viewed her artistic career as a similarly adventurous undertaking, an exploration that brought her solace and protection mixed with nervous excitement.
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