Many of the artists we read about this week, such as Frederic Remington and Rockwell Kent, were names that I had previously associated with the Adirondacks, but Georgia O'Keeffe stood out to me both because she was the only woman read about, but also because I generally associated her art with the American southwest. Those who are familiar with Georgia O’Keeffe know that
she was madly in love with, and spent the majority of her time in, New Mexico. She is generally considered an artist of the desert, but it is lesser known that she also had a
fling with the Adirondacks, and specifically Lake George.
From 1918 to 1934 she spent part of every
year at her husband's family's 36-acre estate on Lake George that served as a
rural retreat.
In 1923 in a letter to a friend she expresses her love for the region remarking, “I wish you could see the place here -- there is something so perfect about the mountains and the lake and the trees".
Her art from the Adirondacks
represents the solitude and still beauty of the Adirondacks, as well as the the electric colors of spring and the fiery red colors of autumn.
Her work uniquely combines serenity with
the sublime colors of the region.
Georgia O'Keefe's name stood out to me in the readings as well! I've studied numerous O'Keefe paintings in previous art history courses but I have never studied her paintings that represent the Adirondacks. I think these paintings are very beautiful and do a good job in representing the solitude and the sublime of the Adirondacks. I also like how they represent landscapes during different seasons and times of day. It's amazing how much the seasons and light can change the appearance of a landscape.
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