The short version
- The exhibition features nearly forty works that emphasize geometry and structure over the organic forms for which O’Keeffe is best known.
- Curators aim to present these architectural studies as essential components of the artist’s career, reflecting her desire to capture the spirit of specific places.
- Key pieces include industrial cityscapes from her New York apartment window and abstracted depictions of a patio door in her New Mexico home.
Georgia O’Keeffe is widely recognized for her ethereal paintings of flowers, animal bones, and southwestern landscapes, characterized by soft curves and organic forms. However, a new exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts challenges this singular narrative by focusing on the artist’s rigorous studies of architecture and urban environments. Titled Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture, the show presents close to forty works that highlight her engagement with straight lines, geometric precision, and industrial subjects.
Ben Coleman, the curator at the Dia who oversaw the collection, stated that the goal was to tell a new story about an artist whose public image has become somewhat fixed. He emphasized that O’Keeffe herself considered these architectural works essential to her practice. The exhibition seeks to celebrate these pieces in the manner the artist intended, offering viewers a fresh perspective on her technical approach and thematic interests beyond her most famous floral compositions.
The conceptual foundation for the show originated with Stables, a 1932 painting held in the Dia’s collection. This work depicts a tranquil rural structure using bright green, burgundy, and textured white tones. Created during O’Keeffe’s travels through upstate New York and eastern Quebec, the piece demonstrates a precise use of geometry that surprised many viewers familiar with her softer style. Coleman noted that this geometric clarity inspired him to seek out other architectural works by the artist.
A significant portion of the exhibition features O’Keeffe’s views of New York City, created from her apartment windows in the Shelton Hotel. She and her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, lived on progressively higher floors, eventually reaching the 30th floor of the 31-story building, which was likely the tallest residential structure in the world at the time. This elevated vantage point allowed her to produce unprecedented cityscapes that captured the gritty industrial life surrounding the East River.
These urban works depict smokestacks emitting pollution and rows of nondescript buildings, a stark contrast to her celebrated natural landscapes. According to Coleman, these paintings demonstrate O’Keeffe’s ability to represent the feeling of a place through its built environment. This skill later translated to her depictions of adobe structures in New Mexico, connecting the spirit of Manhattan skyscrapers with rural southwestern architecture.
The exhibition also includes a notable 1949 painting of the Brooklyn Bridge, created as O’Keeffe prepared to leave New York permanently for New Mexico. The work presents a flattened view of the bridge’s arches and cables, evoking the appearance of stained glass windows. Coleman described the piece as deeply personal, marking a moment of transition in the artist’s life. The use of light and color variations gives the painting a poetic quality, defamiliarizing the iconic structure while maintaining realistic anchors.
Another key series in the show focuses on a patio door from O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She purchased the property in 1945 and spent four years restoring it before moving there permanently in 1949. The door became a recurring subject in her work during the 1940s and 1950s, resulting in dozens of paintings that explore color and form. These works are among the most abstract in her career, yet they remain precisely anchored in the physical reality of the object.
By placing these architectural studies alongside her more famous works, the exhibition positions O’Keeffe within a broader context of modernist abstraction. Her geometric explorations share similarities with the work of contemporaries such as Agnes Martin and Mark Rothko. The show underscores the diversity of her artistic output, revealing a sustained interest in structure, color, and the interplay between interior and exterior spaces throughout her career.
The exhibition runs at the Detroit Institute of Arts, providing an opportunity for audiences to reconsider O’Keeffe’s legacy. It highlights her versatility as an artist who could navigate both the organic and the constructed with equal skill. By bringing together works from different periods and locations, the show offers a comprehensive view of her artistic evolution and her enduring fascination with the shapes that define our environments.
Sources behind this briefing
Go to the original reporting
- The Guardian US↗Skyscrapers and smokestacks: the grittier side of Georgia O’Keeffe
