O'Keeffe exhibition spotlights famed artist as well as her protegees
By PATRICIA MORRIS BUCKLEY - For the North County Times | ∞
A painting featured in San Diego Museum of Art's exhibition of "Georgia O'Keeffe and Women of the Stieglitz Circle," running through Sept. 28, 2008. Pictured here is Georgia O’Keeffe's "Red, Yellow and Black Streak," 1924, oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x 31 in. Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. © Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Photo credit CNAC/ MNAM/ Dist. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/ Art Resource, NY. 
A photograph featured in San Diego Museum of Art's exhibition of "Georgia O'Keeffe and Women of the Stieglitz Circle," running through Sept. 28, 2008. Pictured here is Anne Brigman's "The Breeze," 1918 (negative, ca. 1910), gelatin silver print, 24.8. x 19.7 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago, Julien Levy Collection; Gift of Jean Levy and the Estate of Julien Levy (1988.157.11); reproduction © The Art Institute of Chicago 
A painting featured in San Diego Museum of Art's exhibition of "Georgia O'Keeffe and Women of the Stieglitz Circle," running through Sept. 28, 2008. Pictured here is Georgia Engelhard's "Jack in the Pulpit," c. 1927, oil on canvas. Private Collection, Courtesy Gerald Peters Gallery. One of the most powerful aspects of an art exhibition can be its layout, and that's exactly what makes the San Diego Museum of Art's "Georgia O'Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle" stand out.
While about three-quarters of the works in the show are by O'Keeffe, the exhibit also includes the work of four other female artists who were protegees of photographer and gallerist Alfred S. Stieglitz, who later became O'Keeffe's husband.
But O'Keeffe is by far the best-known of these artists. So the exhibit starts with one of her paintings in the distance, sort of as an enticement, then walks visitors past the other artists' pieces before showcasing O'Keeffe's work alone.
"A lot of people know O'Keeffe's work, as she's one of the most important artists of the 20th century," said Derrick R. Cartwright, the museum's executive director. "But he also brought together other great artists, some of which history has forgotten because so many people latched onto O'Keeffe. The collection is staged chronologically, which works because he met O'Keeffe last. So the theatrics of the exhibit are exciting."
These artists were some of the first females to break out of social conventions that dictated that painting was a male occupation. For instance, Anne Brigman was one of the first women to exhibit nude studies. Pamela Colman Smith and Katharine Rhoades experimented with mystical and abstract landscapes. Gertrude Kasebier explored the maternal world.
The exhibit features a total of 80 works, which includes photographs by Stieglitz of O'Keeffe at work.
"This show looks at one moment in her career before she became a mythic figure, with calendars and coffee mugs," said Cartwright. "These works are from the beginning of her career, when she was bold and daring. They show why she is a great artist."
The exhibit is co-organized by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and High Museum of Art. San Diego is the last stop on its three-city tour.
"There are works here that people will never see together again, because they are from the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan, the Louvre in Paris and a couple from private collections here in San Diego as well as five works from our permanent collection," Cartwright said.
The museum is also using this exhibition as a launching point for other shows on female artists, including one on San Diego artist Eleanor Antin.
"This summer, we're celebrating great women artists," he said. "O'Keeffe was the trigger for this. We realized that we could do other things with that theme and that our visitors could see American art as more than just a few well-known artists."
"Georgia O'Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle"
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays; through Sept. 28
Where: San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego
Tickets: $10, general; $8, seniors/military; $7, students; $4, youth (6-17); Children aged 5 and under/members, free
Info: (619) 232-7931
Web: www.sdmart.org
More Stories
Advertisement
First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.
Today's Stories
Advertisement