Okay, is it too late to say I want to be Georgia O'Keeffe when I grow up? Last Saturday, we finally made it to Cleveland Art Museum to see the exhibit Georgia O'Keeffe: Living Modern. All I can say is WoW! I mean it. It wasn't your average exhibit of just her paintings but a glimpse into the woman herself. It showed you her work, her style, and her passion to be a modern original. The funny thing is that you get the idea that O'Keeffe didn't have to remake herself (or Brand as they say today) into a Modern Original....she just was.
The exhibit began with her aspirations at age 12 to be painter and how her mother taught her how to sew. It showed her thrifty tendencies with sewing and designing her own clothes. It followed her through her break through into the art world of New York City in the 1920's. It continued on with extensive photography with her as the main subject. Then moved out west in her more mature years to series of desert landscapes and southwestern symbolism.
All through her life one thing was very clear....she was a modern Icon. Her fashion style was aptly represented with her love of Japanese influences and the exquisite custom tailoring of black suits for "Going to town". They had the gorgeous silk and linen blouses she designed with perfect pleating., Even her denim work aprons and jeans were on exhibit. I mean there is something when you can literally see the shoes that the woman walked in to bring her to life in front of your vary eyes.
Truly, I'm not sure if I was more impressed with the clothing or the photos or the paintings they gathered. One thing I know for sure is that she was MUCH more than her famous serious of exotic flower paintings. You could see the true depth of the artist from the things that were in the exhibit.
My husband and I spent the rest of the evening talking over what we had saw and speculating on her life. She seemed such an unique individual, a woman before her time .... a true modern Icon.
I highly suggest you take 4 minutes of your life and take a look at this video of this same exhibit in Brooklyn, It really captures what I saw and thought. Like I said ....I want to be Georgia O'Keeffe when I grow up.
What Have You Been Up to Creatively?
Wow! Looks like a great exhibit. Thanks for the link. Love the idea of this exhibit to have both her art, and her clothing and pictures of her. Thanks for the inspiration this morning. I've not blogged this week. Way too busy and no art done!! Hopefully next week. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI never realized what a prolific strong trend setting woman she was. Always loved her art but now seeing the woman - wow! My hero ❤️
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting. Always a great party.
ReplyDeleteI love O'Keeffe and there's a bunch in your post that I wasn't aware of.
Thank you for this wonderful post! I just ordered the book!
ReplyDeleteLove Georgia O'Keefe! Saw an exposition of her's in Chicago many years ago. Still impactful!
ReplyDeleteThe Georgia O'Keefe exhibit looks wonderful, I would love to see that. Thanks for sharing it.
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