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For seven decades Georgia O'Keeffe was a major figure in American art. She was a female artist who refused to be pigeonholed. An artist who stayed true to her unique vision and remained independent from all the shifting art trends of her time. Her paintings, now loom so large in the collective imagination, that it is easy to forget just how radical she was for her time.
In 1935, O’Keeffe produced this ground-breaking image. The artist was already known for her series of sensuous flower paintings, but this was different. That year, her life and the type of work she created would drastically change.
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"What a brilliant series this is" - Stephen Fry on Twitter 12 December 2020
SUBTITLES
I input the English subtitles myself but I rely on volunteers to do subtitles for other languages and I really appreciate it - just contact me at jamespayne33@hotmail.com
French subtitles by Ludivine Desriac
Spanish subtitles by Alma Perdomo
CREDITS
Opening Animation and Title Sequence by Brian Adsit (instagram instagram.com/brian_vfx?... and Behance www.behance.com/badsit88)
Sound Mix by Oscar Sidoff Rydelius (Thank you!)
All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel do not claim any right over them.
BOOKS
Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life by Roxana Robinson
Georgia O'Keeffe 1887-1986: Flowers in the Desert by Britta Benke
Georgia O`Keeffe and New Mexico - A Sense of Place by Barbara Buhler Lynes
O'Keeffe, Stieglitz and the Critics by Lynes
MUSIC
Felix Mendelssohn: String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
Please leave a comment and like the video - I appreciate all your comments and it REALLY helps promote the channel - Thanks so much - James
Thank _you_ for another perfect introduction to an artist I knew very little about other than her name.
it is always we who must thank you.
René Magritte please
@@henninghoefer å
Thank you!
I had no idea that the sexualisation of O’Keefe’s work was against her will. As your videos do often do, my perspective on a beloved artist has been fundamentally changed. Thank you for telling this story!
Even though the sexual interpretation of O'Keefe's earlier art was rejected by her, that doesn't necessarily mean that a sexual interpretation of that work wasn't valid. I think O'Keefe disliked the reduction of the work to such limited parameters, when she probably saw her efforts as multivalent.
@@barrymoore4470 A good point! An artist doesn’t need to intend to communicate something for her viewers to perceive it. I had just always (sort of naively) assumed she was the one pushing the sexual interpretation of her work to the forefront. I’m pleased to know different now!
It seems rather disingenuous of her to have said that. Just about everything she ever painted looks like a veejay. I’m not a fan.
@@gilly5094 Her renderings of skulls do not register as vaginal. Or at least it would be a stretch to apply that description to them.
Really? Looking at the one on the thumbnail for this video, I first of all thought it was a pair of legs inverted. Granted, it would be somewhat abstracted, but the good old vag is there yet again.
Thank you so much for including clips of O'Keeffe speaking for herself!
I understand the relevance here, given the influence of Steiglitz, but it’s one of the reasons I love learning about 20th century artists in general - to see and hear them is so compelling, whether it’s interview style like this or seeing Jackson Pollock at work
Are you an artist too?
Yes, practically made me cry 🥺
And I was shocked to realize how youthful her voice sounded! Very unusual.
I want this channel to exist for as long as it can. Such an amazing content, so well thought and crafted. It's unbelievable how much I've learned about art history and improved as an aspiring artist since I've discovered you ❤
That makes me happy - thanks 🙏
I feel the same.
I agree. I was so happy to find it. I AM EXCITED.
I really like the way you tie the shifting of her art styles to American history. The rain clouds hovering over the dry desert was something I never understood the signifigance of when my teach tried to explain why the piece mattered back when I was in elementary school, thank you for such a in-depth and clear analysis as always.
Thanks for watching!
Neither did I, and I live in this region and practically worship the coming of the monsoon! James has a great eye for detail, or at least has really done his homework
I was a 1st grader in Albuquerque when my teacher showed a movie of Georgia O'Keeffe and then she said, and now you get to meet her! ... as a child of 6 I honestly had no idea the honor it was to have met her in real life. I look back on it now, and I would have to have that experience again only with the knowledge that I was in the presence of a genius.
James, nobody does it better!! Your articulate clarity and unpretentious presentation suits our revered, beloved Georgia to a tee.
That is so kind of you - thanks 🙏
It is often hard for me to appreciate works by artists that are well known but that I'm not very familiar with. If I go to a biography, there is so much information that it is hard to wade through it. Your explanations make it easy to get a foot hold.
Glad you enjoyed it
Such a great point!! They inspire me to learn more which is so exciting!!
I agree.
I was never really interested in desert environments until I viewed an O’Keefe exhibit. When I saw how she so artfully used colors and shades to depict the skulls and landscapes, I wanted to see those places for myself. Now I visit the Southwestern deserts at least once a year, mostly to photograph them. They amaze me like they amazed her, and I have her to thank for that.
I love how you put her work in a historical context. Helped me appreciate her work that much more. Thx for this and all your other art education videos. ❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow. That section with side by side photos and paintings is really powerful. I read a large biography of O'Keefe a few years ago by Roxana Robinson. She's incredible, and the museum in Santa Fe is a must see
I only knew O'Keefe because of her charcoal work That is/was all that I was interested in.
There aren't many channels on KZhead where I drop what I am doing to watch when something new drops. I love your work brother. Such good stuff.
I appreciate that!
This channel has rekindle my love for art into another level of understanding and appreciation. Watching this video about O’keeffee taught me so much about her work and what made her such an important and incredible artist. Thank you so much
Wow, thank you!
I feel like fame is a big reason so many artists become kinda tired and bored. I am happy to see this woman in her old age and blindness still pursuing her need to create. An inspirational story. Great essay.
It's always inspiring to see a person going forward even when limitations or impediments complicate their journey.
If you ever wonder if making these videos is worth all the effort, please know you have created art appreciation and understanding among those of us who have zero art education or skill. You make it accessible and remove the daunting barrier that many of us non art types are intimidated by. Thank you!!
This is by far the greatest art channel in KZhead. Every time the level of enjoyment is surpassed! How cool is that? Thank you sooo much!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for watching 🙏
Art: the 'unique' final object of creative thought, created by extraordinary skills.
A great artist, and a true American original. She also had the most beautiful, compelling features, highly photogenic. It's easy to see how any admirer of art and creativity would have been drawn to her.
I often have trouble understanding more abstract and surrealist art - I'm a very literal thinker so I can't always follow the artist's thought process. This is a fantastic introduction to both her art and the connection between art and history
Most often artists paint for themselves and expect the viewer to formulate his or her own “story” from what they see. Many artists who might be able to explain their thought process would not want to. Art critics and others who feel they can “explain” art are generally speculating, at best, and feeding their own egos by demonstrating what they believe is their vast knowledge of the very processes they themselves are incapable of performing. Like that old adage, “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.”
Love this channel...and can we take a moment to appreciate that there's over a million subscribers? 😮
I know! It's crazy!
It gives me hope...
I'm extremely appreciative of this awesome education in art that I'm getting for free. You all are doing incredible work with this channel.
Very much deserved!
@@gamby16a it’s just me, but thanks for the compliment!
Gorgeous... her work and her person were gorgeous. The colors and her style are so iconic it's comforting to see them, thank you for the video
Thank you so much!
I know I’m just repeating the praise of others but I must - the way you give context to the artist’s life and works is a big part of why your videos stand out above the others. Thank you!
Thanks so much! 🙏
In 1977 O'Keefe published a book of some of her paintings. Not all of them, for there were so many that no one book could contain them all. She explained her thinking as she painted them. It's a wonderful book, and I was able to obtain one of the last available copies. Shapes and colors always fascinated her, and it was the shape of the bones that originally attracted her. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job explaining her work and her thinking. You seem to have a much better grasp of her originality than many of the critics.
I’ve seen a few of her works. Bold, moving, haunting and yet peaceful and serene
An incredibly inspiring artist with her unique eye on the world around her and her interpretation of nature with the glorious colours. Her personal life seemed to be much in turmoil but she carried on, a true artist, in what must have been terribly difficult at times. Thanks for this great video, really enjoyed watching it.
Thanks for watching 🙏
Wow, I am so glad I watched this! I'm glad to learn that what I've been taught about her was wrong and that instead of being an artist who was painting with sexuality in mind, she was inspired by photography and wanted to be her own artist. This was great!
Thanks for watching 🙏
Wonderful backstory on her life and how she viewed the world around her. Another excellent video. So glad I found this channel!!
Fascinating documentary as ever, James
Her paintings are absolutely beautiful, cryptic, and surprising.. Would love to see more of her work in person.
A wonderful synthesis of the aesthetic of a great artist.
You have enabled me to enjoy O'Keeffe's art in a way I never thought I could. You helped me CONNECT to her work. That is powerful storytelling. Spellbinding work. Please keep it up!
The Cincinnati art museum has an exhibit of her work, focusing on her photography. I was already planning to go, so this information is rather timely. Great job as always, James!
Thanks for the info!
Many of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings bring me to tears. ALL of her paintings inspire and move me. I grew up in the desert Southwest. Georgia O'Keefe depicts the desert in a way that is true and artistic. Thank you James for creating this film. I love all of your work, but am especially drawn to this one because of my love for Georgia O'Keefe, her art and her unique life.
thanks a lot for this introduction to O'Keeffe.
You are welcome!
I am new to the art world. I started painting lessons is January and my desire for learning more has been fueled! This channel is wonderful for understanding what sometimes feels like a foreign language. Thank you, Mr. Payne, for time and effort you put into these videos!
What James is doing is just fantastic. I want to see him on camera, maybe hastily. Maybe it would be great to see him give an interview or create a documentary. Bravo!
Hi Dave - in these short videos I don’t appear on camera because I want to concentrate (and show) the art, rather than just have me talking to camera. If you look in my “live” section there is a talk I gave on my channel.
A distinct lack of hubris. I will check that out. Also, I just realized this is my favorite video of the series. Cheers, James@@GreatArtExplained
Absolutely superb. Many thanks James.
This chanel has changed my perception of art. Please keep up the good work!
Editing on point once again, great work
I had the knowledge of a pin about art history. Seemed so complicated and intimidating to understand a vast subject. But, the complexities with which an artist and the painting on the focus are explained, peeling off every layer with a nuanced understanding of socio-economic status at the time makes me come back every week to check on new uploads. Bravo to the channel creator!
Thanks for watching 🙏 and for commenting. James
That was beautiful! It answered questions I have always had about her, and left me even more impressed with her works.
I wonder if the skulls and flowers motifs could be inspired by mexican culture. Great video and beautiful paintings! I've seen the "Ram's head"- painting somwhere before but had no idea of the artist or the history behind it. I love that you take art that most people have seen somewhere in popular culture, like "The Great Wave" by Hokusai or "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt, and bring its artist, history and cultural relevance to light.
Thanks you - she quite often painted artificial flowers in her paintings which were inspired by the flowers on the graves of local Hispanics. Best james
Since not enough people have discovered this great video, I am commenting again to help. Seriously - watch it!
Thanks 🙏
Thank you kind sir for another interesting lesson in Art history. It's greatly appreciated.
Thanks for watching 🙏
I went to the MOMA recently and got so much more out of it thanks to your videos
That is so nice to hear - thanks 🙏
I never realy understod O'Keefe's art and it's relevance. To be honest it's not changed but thank you. Great video.
Very well written, researched and compassionately shared. This is THE best piece on Georgia, and I've seen many. 💛
Wow, thank you!
Definitely one of my favourite artists, such a genius. Her subjects are so simply depicted, yet so powerful that you can feel her presence. I am not surprised to know she was considered the Mother Of American Modernism.
That gave me a whole new perspective on O'Keeffe and her work. Thanks.
Thanks for watching 🙏
I love the bird’s eye (drone today) scope of Sheeler’s “American Landscape”. I would stare at it for hours noticing the realistic details. It is probably his only work with a human pictured. Just something about the cool sunlight making an industrial scene look clean and serene. Sorry… I was excited to see this painting mentioned. O’Keefe was a powerful artist and yes a visionary woman before her time. Another Great Video!
Excellent video! Thank you so much for describing O’Keeffe’s life and correcting the warped vision of her created by her famous photographer. I find her skulls to be perfectly evocative of the American Southwest. Absolutely love your channel and content!
She might be the single finest artist of the American Southwest. She does in visuals what D.H. Lawrence did in words.
I have found O'Keeffe' art through a magazine of Gudrun Sjøden. Who is creating clothes in Sweeden and for the world and very inspired by her. Dearest O'Keeffe: How wonderful you are❤
Another brilliant short doc James. I had no idea of Georgia relationship with Alfred and photography, but I as a photographer, I always had in my mind that art and photography are utterly entwined, as art is also an inspiration for my work. Thank you for enlighten us, love your work. Cheers from São Paulo!
Honestly, I absolutely LOVE this channel. You clearly are very gifted at distilling essential ideas down to digestible proportions. Please keep making this incredible content.!!
Fascinating as always. The quality of these is well worth the wait. Thank you.
I appreciate you commenting thanks 🙏
My parents had a coffee table book of Georgia O'Keefe when I was a kid in the 60s..I'd look at it for hours...
Thank you for the wonderful video!!!
Thank you for putting this artist's work into the context of the times. I admittedly was rather unaware of the trailblazing aspect of her work.
Exquisite content as always. I've been following this channel since its early days and I'm so glad to see how much the subscriber base has grown.
Thank you, James Payne, for another great video! O’keefe was not just an artist, but a force that could not be denied, and would not be channeled by anyone but Georgia O’keefe. Your video makes that clear.
Fascinating! Thank you so much for this wonderful video!
Incredible! Thank you for this and all of your videos!
Degas captured movement in the ballerinas he painted and he used photography. Interesting to learn of Georgia's use of photography too. O'Keefe was yet another artist who produced, despite being oppressed by her relationship. Her husband may have thought he was protecting her but in some respects he was robbing her of her individuality. Still held onto her by marriage even though separated, but she still powered through. O'Keefe was an inspiration and a trailblazer for women, doing her own thing silencing the naysayers and showing her talents to the world.
Amazing video! Thank you!
My favorite art channel!! Thanks for another great video
Thanks for watching 🙏
Thank you so much for another video! I have a much deeper appreciation for all the art you explain 🙏🏻
Thank you ! Look forward to watching your other arts vids .Sharing!
Thank you for referring me back, on your Q and A, to O’Keeffe! You are right, we do need to lift her up, her work is magnificent.
Love your work!
This is my first approach to O'Keefe's work, thanks to your videos I am learning so much of artists I knew, but also of artists whose work I was totally ignorant of, I've really fallen in love with some of the pieces you showed here!! I love this channel so muuuuuch
Another great installment of a wonderful series; thank you!
This is my favourite channel! Thank you for the wonderful content you create!
Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to these videos! I always learn so much
Appreciate this enlightening video about O’Keefe and the original clips of her speaking which greatly enhance its impact
I live about 40 miles from Abique, where Ghost Ranch, her home, is located. Surrounded by mountains , colored by nature, you can still feel her presence.
This is wonderful thank you!
Another great video of you about this artist that is so dear to my heart and I got introduced to her work when living in New Mexico, not far from her home in Abiquiu. ❤ thank you for these great videos.
Thanks for watching 🙏
Brilliant video. Keep it up
Thanks, will do!
My favorite channel by a mile. Every time a new one drops, i watch immediately. This info and context is invaluable and inspiring.
Always loved Georgia O’Keeffe, especially her flowers abstractions. And as usual, with your videos I always learn more! Thank you so much!
Another great video in the series. I love art and these videos make me love it anymore as they take me by the hand and guide me a little further along the road of appreciation for the amazing creative artists that did something unique.
Thank you for showcasing this brilliant, misinterpreted painter. As always, you offer a perspective on paintings and artists that reveals there is always much more than meets the eye, and that an artist often has multiple facets that unfortunately tend to go unacknowledged by the general public. Ms. O'Keefe's relationship with Juan Hamilton was quite interesting; Harpers Bazarr has a 2016 online article that explores the intricacies of that relationship.
I just love Georgia O'keeffe. Thanks for this wonderful profile!
I remember the first orange flower O'Keefe print I bought at an antique store in my teens. It had such an impression on me. I also remembet reading about the supposed sexual themes. I love close up/micro photography and this video helped me better appreciate her artistry. Well done.
Absolutely fantastic, as always. I really appreciate the amount of what it must take in making these videos.
Excellent video. Love all the information on her later life and the wonderful overview you’ve provided for her entire career of work
One of your best so far. Love this channel.
Thank you for this lovely contribution, presentation. Loved it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing work! Thank you so much for your hard work. I love this channel…thank you James
Thanks for watching Jenny🙏
Once again, an image that I'm vaguely familiar with is given amazing context and perspective! Thank you for all the research, your content is so enlightening.
I absolutely love this channel because I’ve always loved art but I also have never really understood what the art means or how to look at it based on its time, styles, etc. This channel is making it possible for everyone to appreciate and understand great art. Thank you for doing what you do!
Amazing as always. Your films always inspire me to create art and to learn more about art. Thank you for that
As another commenter noted, such are your videos that my perspective of O'Keeffe's art is completely turned on its head. Thank you!
Beautifully done, thank you. I knew next to nothing about her and grateful to learn about her, especially now that I know how much you love her art from your Live Chat. Thank you.
Greaaat greeat content, James! I watched a lot of documentaries on art and your content is so easy to asimilate, so simply logical! If art were to be promoted in this manner, it would reach a lot of minds that don’t even know that art is what they need!❤ lots of admiration and love!
Love Georgia O’Keefe- love this video! Thank you for shedding some light on her works. It was great to hear her take on the things you discussed. She’s from Wisconsin, maybe that’s where your target of a ‘boy from Wisconsin’ comes from. She probably wasn’t understood by people from her home state back in her day… but she can be now.
One can see this video was made with love and passion. Thanks a lot!
Having come from Colorado I always felt that Georgia O’Keeffe’s later works captured that very specific region of the US so well. The purity of the bleached bones occurs in that dry desert climate, projected on the burnished sandstone reds and blues and whites of the Southwestern skies just really spoke to me as an inhabitant of that landscape.
So appreciative of the work you do❤
Fantastic video as always! I do wonder if much of the sexualisation of O’Keeffe’s work could’ve come from potentially unintended evocations of Ancient Egyptian art. Bovine skulls bring to mind images of the Egyptian goddess Hathor, who was intentionally depicted as a woman with a cow’s head in reference to her patronage over female fertility and sexuality, given the obvious resemblance of a bull’s horns with the female reproductive system. O’Keeffe’s common flower motifs are also quite similar to those of the Egyptian Lotus, which was a symbol of the God Nefertum, who represented beauty, perfume and sensuality. I noticed too that her work and that of the Ancient Egyptians share a certain austere quality, while at the same time portraying everyday objects as particularly grand and even emblematic, like a hieroglyph. Even her colour schemes remind me of Egyptian art, although that very well might be coincidental due to the fact that she seemed to gravitate towards hues naturally found in desert landscapes.
That’s really interesting! Thanks 🙏
I wonder if the widespread use of elements of ancient Egyptian art in the early 1900s also contributed to her work as being associated with not only sex but also death.
@@kathyjohnson2043 that’s very possible. Ironically, it would support O’Keeffe’s own statement that people misinterpreted her work as sepulchral, when she meant it to actually represent the opposite. If she really was influenced by Egyptian imagery, motifs of Hathor and Nefertum are definitely apt if her goal was to portray life and birth rather than death. Neither were chthonic deities in the ancient Egyptian religion, and both were explicitly linked with childbirth and the act of divine creation rather than mortality (there were many dozens of Egyptian gods that were associated with death, and none of O’keeffe’s work depicts any of them or their determinatives as far as I know). She chose specific symbols denoting new life, yet her art was advertised as being all about death.