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White Flower
About the Artwork
O’Keeffe is best known for close-up flower subjects whose magnified forms fill the entire space of each canvas. Likely inspired by similar compositions in modern photography, these images are not only celebrations of natural forms, but also striking essays in abstract design. Although many critics interpreted O’Keeffe’s flower paintings as reflections of femininity in general and female sexuality in particular, the artist strongly opposed such readings. Throughout most of her career, she frequently attempted to persuade others to discuss her work without referring to her gender, writing on one occasion, “I have always been very annoyed at being referred to as a ‘woman artist’ rather than an ‘artist.’”
Inscriptions
Stretcher: "White Flower -- 1929 / by Georgia O'Keeffe" (AS, graphite) Backing: "White Flower -- 1929 (oil) by Georgia O'Keeffe Price $8,000 To be returned to Geo. F. Of 126 W 57th NY NY ['To be returned...NY' twice]" (AS, AAP2, black ink)
Provenance
(An American Place, New York, NY)
Exhibition history
Tenth Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 6-July 7, 1930). Autumn Flower Show. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-December 1, 1935). Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937). The Modern Spirit: American Painting 1908-35. Gallery of the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (August 19-September 11, 1977); Hayward Gallery, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (September 28-November 20, 1977). Art of the Twenties: American Painting at the Crossroads. Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI (organizer) (November 16, 1978-January 21, 1979). Circa 1930. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 12-October 31, 1983). The Georgia O'Keeffe Gift. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 4-November 15, 1987). The Precisionist Aesthetic in American Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 24-April 9, 1989). Georgia O'Keeffe: Naturalezas Intimas. Fundacion Juan March (organizer) (February 8-June 2, 2002). Georgia O'Keeffe and the Southwestern Still Life. Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN (October 30, 2014-February 15, 2015). Georgia O'Keeffe, Photographer. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (organizer) (October 17, 2021-January 17, 2022) https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/georgia-okeeffe-photographer; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA (February 27-June 5, 2022); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (July 3-November 6, 2022); The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (February 1-May 1, 2023). Georgia O'Keeffe: "My New Yorks". The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (June 2-September 22, 2024) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9539/georgia-o-keeffe-my-new-yorks; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (October 25, 2024-February 16, 2025).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887–1986)
- Date
- 1929
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 80 x 95.3 x 4.5 cm (31 1/2 x 37 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 76.2 x 91.5 cm (30 x 36 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
- Accession no.
- 1930.2162
More by Georgia O'Keeffe in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009326
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