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Identifying Creator of Cultural Works
Georgia OKeeffe is one of the notable American painters who revolutionized art in the 20th Century. Born on November 15, 1887, OKeeffe attended various Chicago and New York art schools before becoming a commercial instructor. As a fan of oriental art, she started her career in 1905 after joining the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. OKeeffe won several prizes throughout her education and attended art galleries in the United States, which inspired her. Notably, she frequented the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession that Alfred Stieglitz, OKeeffes future husband, co-owned. Across the globe, many artists refer OKeeffe as the inventor of American Modernism because of her professional use of imitative realism to express various contexts of society.
OKeeffe acquired the modernist perspective from her associate, Arthur Wesley Dow. She explored Dows principles and replicated them in her paintings. She remained independent as art trends shifted, and aimed at multiple compositions instead of mere representation. OKeeffes art comprised radical depictions of modern ideas translated into stylistic color palettes. Before her demise in 1986, OKeeffe had curved her skill around New Mexico landscapes, New York skyscrapers, and enlarged blooms. America honored OKeeffe with a museum located in Santa Fe, which exhibits her notable works and preserves her artistic legacy.
Describing One Cultural Work
The Cows Skull: Red, White, and Blue painting is a significant example of OKeeffes precisionist artworks. She created the art of a single skull that looks devoured or eroded by weather. During OKeeffes regular retreats outside New York City, she spotted a similar skull or acquired the idea. Even though OKeeffe collected bones for fun, her painting suggested more than a mere depiction of the desert environment. During an interview, she confesses that the bones seem to cut sharply to the center of something that is keenly alive in the desert even though it is vast and empty and untouchable (Pounders, 2019).
This oil on canvas infers to the evanescence of life from the inspirations OKeeffe acquired in New Mexico. It represents naturalism and the beauty of the desert. The Cows Skull illustrates the American spirit of endurance inspired by The Great American Poetry. Red, white, and blue represent the national flag, showing OKeeffes patriotism and respect for American History. This canvas utilized two revolutionary approaches that facilitated the advancement of modernism; OKeeffe borrowed ideas from Cubism and Futurism, deconstructing life along multiple planes.
Determining Questions About Human Culture
OKeeffes painting prompts various questions concerning human culture and the evolutionary approaches that modern artists apply. In contrast to 20th Century painters, modern artists have invested in advanced pedagogies that vary from precisionist exhibit in this painting. First, The Cows Skull prompts the question, how have modern American painters promoted patriotism in their contemporary works? Due to the shift in the cultural significance of art due to modernization and globalization, this masterpiece suggests that painters should reflect on their styles to appreciate history and support national development. Secondly, this work asks, what is the relationship between nature and humans? The Cows Skull exhibits a deep connection between animals (nature) and human beings.
In the painting, OKeeffe displays a weathered skull at the center of a piece of cloth which could represent Americans way of life. Its context shows that nature dominates over humans, and people should acknowledge it regardless of the perennial challenges symbolized by a weathered muzzle. Thirdly, OKeeffes painting prompts the question of communication and how artists can harness their skills to relay meaningful messages to society. In an era of reduced linguistic use due to digitization, The Cows Skull asks modern artists whether they can integrate cultural elements in their work to enhance identity and meaning. With indigenous ways of life facing extinction, the painting prompts a societal analysis of the cultural aspects such as art and how significant they are to the respective communities.
Defining Big Questions
The primary inspiration for The Cows Skull was drought; after taking several retreats across the Southwest, OKeeffe witnessed the devastation as animal skeletons littered the landscape. She wanted to address climate change, considering that cows were native animals in her toured areas. Weathered bones and skulls inspired OKeeffe to create a painting that would resonate with the situation and possibly prompt Americans and the rest of the world to take action. The sight of dead animals and decaying body parts invoked emotions that promoted the painting.
At the time, The Great Depression negatively affected Americans and their way of life. According to Hall and Matthews (2020), The Great Depression had resulted in the loss of livelihood, and that economic crisis ended much of the philanthropy and other support that had allowed black artists to experiment with their crafts (p.3). The pinnacles and hollows of the partially-weathered cows skull related to Americas tolerance during the Depression. Even though the economy was trailing, the nation maintained its identity. Through a precisionist pathway, OKeeffe created a painting that manifested naturalism and quenched the human need for expression through borrowed principles of Cubism and Futurism.
References
Pounders, L. A. (2019). Her Symbols of the Desert : An Emerging Alchemical Impression in the Bone Paintings of Georgia OKeeffe. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies, 14, 16-29. Web.
Hall, J., & Matthews, A. (July 1, 2020). Harlems renaissance. Cobblestone.
OKeeffe, G. (1931). Cows Skull: Red, White, and Blue. The Metropolitan Museum of art. Web.
Stieglitz, A. (1922). Photograph of Georgia OKeeffe. Art Institvte Chicago. Web.
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