My Outing to the Whitney Museum of American Art

“Black Abstraction,” 1927
Oil on Canvas by Georgia O’Keeffe

What comes to your mind when you see this image? What is its meaning? These are the questions that came to my mind the very moment I saw this painting. I was immediately drawn to this image because it had a familiarity about it, but I couldn’t figure out what it was until I read the caption. This painting reflects Georgia O’Keeffe’s experience with anesthesia right before she underwent an operation to have a benign cyst removed from her breast. She recalled trying to fight to stay awake as long as possible. As the anesthesia took effect, she noticed how everything faded to shades of grays and black. Right before she went to sleep, all she could see was a little white dot in the center of all the grays and black. The following description will hopefully help you envision this painting.
If you look closely into the picture, you can see a tiny white dot sitting right on the top of where the two lines meet directly in the center of the solid, black circle. I was not allowed to take any pictures of the paintings, but after many searches I found this one online. Believe me when I tell you that this picture does not do the actual painting justice. The painting is made up of spiraling circles. The outer ring is a light shade of gray and is the thinnest of all the rings. The second ring is black and much wider than the first. The third ring is a darker shade of gray and thinner than the second ring but wider than the first. Finally, the very center is a sold, black circle. The black areas take up the most space on the painting. In the midst of the spirals is practically a 45 degree, vertical line that turns at almost a 90 degree angle in the center of the solid, black circle and extends to the right into a horizontal line and seems to extend outside of the painting. The areas outside of the focal point, the edges of the painting, are shaded with light gray tones. According to the caption located to the side of the painting, these lines mimic the artist fighting the medication and trying to raise her arm and it dropping to her side from the effects of the anesthesia. The spirals gave me the feeling of being pulled into the center, while the contrasting grays and black directed my focus to the white dot in the center. After standing in front of the painting for a period of time, I was mentally in the painting and forgot other people were even around.
The moment I read the caption, I realized the connection was made between the artist and me. It was a simple emotional response that pulled me toward that painting. I have had four surgeries and the vision of what she saw was eerily similar to what I saw the first time I had surgery. I could remember the anxiety I experienced and how I fought to stay awake because of my fear-a memory I hadn't had in years. The painting held me in its clutches. I was like a moth and the painting was the flame. There were over 125 of her paintings on that third floor of the museum and a total of five floors of art work from various artists. Here I was mesmerized by this one!
The style is truly expressionism. In 1927, this type of art was considered extremely radical. In today’s modern world, this style fits in perfectly. If I didn’t know it was created in 1927, I would easily say it is a recently created piece. Georgia O’Keeffe was a futuristic thinker.
Georgia O’Keeffe was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin on November 15, 1887. When she was a child, Georgia and her sister were taught art lessons at home. When she was 15, her family moved to Virginia. Upon graduating from high school, she continued to study art at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1905-1906. She furthered her education of art by attending the Art Students League in New York from 1907-1908. From 1908-1912, O’Keeffe took a break from painting. She decided to take a job teaching in Amarillo, Texas in the public school system from 1912-1914. In 1916, O’Keeffe began making abstract drawings using charcoal on paper. These drawings caught the attention of Alfred Stieglitz. Through their correspondence, Stieglitz persuaded O’Keeffe into allowing him to put 10 of her charcoal abstract drawings on exhibit. In 1918, Stieglitz convinced O’Keeffe to move to New York and live in an apartment owned by his sister. To get her to focus on her art and stop teaching, he arranged for O’Keeffe to live in the apartment for a year without paying any rent. Their relationship grew, they fell in love, he moved in with her, and they were married in 1924. Together, they promoted O’Keeffe’s work and organized exhibits in major art galleries. Stieglitz swayed O’Keeffe to allow him to take nude portraits of her and display them as part of the exhibits. The nudes focused primarily on her breasts, torso, and thighs. At the time, the nude portraits were considered extremely risqué and did not appeal to some but were accepted by the majority. Stieglitz died in 1946. In 1949, O’Keeffe moved from New York to live permanently in New Mexico. Over time, her eyesight started deteriorating from an incurable eye degeneration disease. She lost her central vision and only had peripheral vision. The last painting she painted without assistance was in 1972. After that, she continued to paint with the help of an assistant. It was about this time that she started making pottery. Georgia O’Keeffe died on March 6, 1986 at the age of 98.

Works Cited

O'Keeffe,Georgia. Home page. 2008
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/her-life.aspx