A pivotal figure in the history of modern American art, Georgia O’Keeffe first gained widespread recognition in the 1920s for her flower paintings. Although these repre­sentational canvases remain some of her most iconic works, abstraction—then a revolutionary new form of expression—was central to O’Keeffe’s art. Influenced by predecessors including the painter Vasily Kandinsky and the progressive arts edu­cator Arthur Wesley Dow, O’Keeffe held a sophisticated view of the relationship between abstraction and representation, often challenging the boundary between the two. “Objective painting is not good painting unless it is good in the abstract sense,” she declared. Created in 1927, Abstraction Blue illustrates that belief, echoing the vivid color, careful modulation, and zoomed­in view of the artist’s contempora­neous blooms while forgoing any strict adherence to representation. Situating Abstraction Blue within O’Keeffe’s broader career, artistic milieu, and critical recep­tion, curator Samantha Friedman enriches our understanding of the painting’s tech­nical virtuosity and conceptual underpinnings.

 

Each volume in the One on One series is a sustained meditation of a single work from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. A richly illustrated and lively essay illuminates the subject in detail and situates that work within the artist’s life and career as well as within broader historical contexts. This series is an invaluable guide for exploring and interpreting some of the most beloved artworks in the Museum’s collection. View the entire series here.