MoMA studies Georgia O’Keeffe’s works on paper made in series

MoMA studies Georgia O’Keeffe’s works on paper made in series

From April 9 through August 12, 2023, the Museum of Modern Art presents “Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time”, the first exhibition to investigate the artist’s works on paper made in series.

Source: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) · Image: Georgia O’Keeffe. “Evening Star”, 1917. Watercolor on paper. 13 3/8 x 17 11/16” (34 x 45 cm). Yale University Art Gallery. The John Hill Morgan, B.A. 1893, LL.B. 1896, M.A. (Hon.) 1929, Fund, the Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund, and Gifts of Friends in Honor of Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., B.A. 1960. © 2022 Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Using charcoal, watercolor, pastel, and graphite, she explored forms and phenomena—from abstract rhythms to nature’s cycles—across multiple examples. Some of these sequences also gave rise to related paintings, which will be installed alongside these works on paper. Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time” reveals a lesser-known side of this artist, foregrounding O’Keeffe’s persistently modern process on paper. Over 120 works created over more than four decades—including key examples from MoMA’s collection—demonstrate the ways in which O’Keeffe developed, repeated, and changed motifs that blur the boundary between observation and abstraction. Seen together, these works demonstrate how drawing in series allowed O’Keeffe to revisit and rework subjects throughout her career, and reveal the thoughtful material choices behind her resplendent compositions.

Though MoMA’s 1946 Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition was its first retrospective of a woman artist, the Museum has not had an exhibition devoted to the artist since. This exhibition is the first to reunite drawings that are most often seen individually, in order to illuminate O’Keeffe’s innovative serial practice. In the formative years of 1915 to 1918, O’Keeffe made more works on paper than she would at any other time, producing her breakthrough series of charcoals and sequences in watercolor of abstract lines, organic landscapes, and nudes. While her practice turned increasingly toward canvas after this period, important series on paper reappeared—including flowers of the 1930s, portraits of the 1940s, and aerial views of the 1950s—all of which are included in this exhibition.

O’Keeffe’s works on paper are the perfect expression of her belief that ‘to see takes time,’” says associate curator Samantha Friedman. “She recognized the necessity of slowing down for her own vision, and, in turn, her sequences of drawings invite us to take time in looking.”

Related content

Año Picasso 2023


Homenaje conjunto Hispano-Francés en el 50 aniversario de la muerte del artista.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso, uno de los artistas españoles más internacionales y uno de los pintores más importantes del S.XX. Nació en Málaga en 1881, y falleció en la localidad francesa de Mougins en 1973. Por ello, este año se recuerda el 50 aniversario de su muerte con exposiciones internacionales y homenajes a su memoria en museos de todo el mundo.

Año Picasso es el principal homenaje rendido al pintor, una iniciativa para la cual los gobiernos de España y Francia crearon una comisión binacional. Y este homenaje cuenta con una programación inmensa en la que participarán ciudades de toda España y de nuestro país vecino. A continuación os hacemos una guía de las más interesantes:

La ciudad que da el pistoletazo de salida a este homenaje a nivel nacional no es otra que la ciudad natal del artista, Málaga. Se han organizado desde jornadas de puertas abiertas en el Museo Casa Natal Picasso, hasta una corrida picassiana de toros en la plaza de la Malagueta. Además de multitud de actividades y exposiciones a lo largo de todo el año, de las que destacamos las dos organizadas por el Museo Picasso Málaga: “Picasso: materia y cuerpo” y “El eco de Picasso”. Mas información sobre las exposiciones aquí.

Seguimos con A Coruña, ciudad a la que el pintor se trasladó con tan solo 9 años. Aquí se acogerá, en el Museo de Bellas Artes de la ciudad, la exposición “Picasso branco no recordo azul”. Esta exposición homenajea los comienzos de Picasso y el papel de la ciudad como marco para sus “primeras veces”. Y es que fue en A Coruña dónde el pintor empezó a trabajar con elementos tan esenciales de su obra como la geometría o los desnudos. Accede a una breve visita virtual de la exposición desde este enlace.

La próxima parada del programa es Barcelona, donde el artista estudió en la Escuela de Bellas Artes y donde viajó y expuso en multitud de ocasiones en vida. La capital catalana homenajea al pintor con una serie de exposiciones en el Museu Picasso sobre la relación entre Picasso y Miró y como la cerámica tradicional española influenció la obra del artista.

Le toca el turno a Madrid, aunque inesperadamente su homenaje no se encontrará en la propia capital, si no en la localidad de Buitrago de Lozoya. Es aquí, dónde en el Museo Picasso – Colección Eugenio Arias, se acogerán multitud de actividades gratuitas que incluyen teatro de títeres, circo, danza, música…etc. Y además se anunciará la recuperación de un edificio histórico que se convertirá en la futura sede del Museo Picasso.

Casi llegando al final del tour nacional tenemos a Bilbao, que en su icónico museo Guggenheim acogerá la primera exposición en España centrada únicamente en la producción escultórica de Picasso y que contará con 45 de las obras más icónicas del artista.

Museo Guggenheim Bilbao

Finalmente Murcia celebrará el homenaje con dos exposiciones sobre la preocupación estética del autor y su relación con Cela en el Centro Cultural Las Claras y en la Casa Pintada de Mula, respectivamente.

Si saltamos a nuestro país vecino, y co-desarrollador del programa del Año Picasso, cabe destacar dos exposiciones esenciales: la realizada por el Museo Picasso de París que pretende acercar la obra del autor a las familias y niños; y la que acoge la ciudad en la que vivió el artista sus últimos años, Antibes, titulada “El principio del fin”, centrada precisamente en esos últimos años productivos del autor entre 1969 y 1972.

Museo Picasso Antibes

La entrada Año Picasso 2023 se publicó primero en The Art Gallery.

Instagram sensation Dan Lam’s fantastical, technicolor sculptures are on exhibit at the McNay Art Museum show Beyond Reality

Dan Lam | Photo by Tyler Baimbridge

Lam’s eye-catching sculptures use unconventional materials to playfully yet thoughtfully explore the space between allure and repulsion. Made of painted polyurethane foam and often covered in spikes, her blob-like pieces that appear to melt and drip. 

McNay Art Museum | Beyond Reality | Dan Lam

The McNay Art Museum is showing an array of my work from 2017 to present, which includes wall pieces, shelf pieces, and free standing sculptures. I’m so excited to be exhibiting with such a strong group of Texas artists.” – Dan Lam

McNay Art Museum | Beyond Reality | Dan Lam

Beyond Reality also includes artwork by three other Texas-based artists who came of age in the early 21st century: Carlos Donjuan, Angela Fox, and Ernesto Ibañez, who all use bright colors, eccentric shapes, and unexpected textures to create captivating works that thrill the senses. 

McNay Art Museum | Beyond Reality | Dan Lam

Delicious Monster, one of Lam’s largest drip sculptures to date, is featured in the show. The show also includes some of Lam’s dynamic beaded wall pieces, like Wait A Little Longer, a material that Lam has only worked with on one solo exhibition.

“While social media provides immediate global accessibility and recognition for artists and their work, museums continue to play an important role by providing a deeper connection between the viewer and the art. The work by these artists exudes a playful, tangible richness and complexity that goes beyond a photograph. The in-person experience is the reward.” – Liz Paris, McNay Collections Manager and co-organizer of the exhibition


Beyond Reality runs through August 13th, 2023.


McNay Art Museum | Beyond Reality | Dan Lam

About Dan Lam


Internationally acclaimed, prominent contemporary artist and social media Influencer; Dan Lam is an artist based out of Texas, US. Lam’s sculptural work expresses and plays with sensational dichotomies by combining unconventional materials, organic forms, and bright colors. With contrasting themes verging on beauty and grotesqueness at once, Lam’s art provokes its viewers to ponder meaning and existence while inspiring feelings of familiarity and wonder. Curiosity, play, and fun are the foundation of where Lam’s work begins. Her experimentation results in beautiful sculptures created with various materials such as foams, polyurethanes, resins, acrylics, and polymers, which defines her style. She has exhibited worldwide, and celebrity clients include Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, The Game, and Lily Aldridge. Notable art collectors, such as the Tisch family, have acquired her work. In addition, Lam has collaborated with prominent companies, including Facebook and Virgin, and renowned art producers, Meow Wolf. Her pieces have been featured in Architectural Digest, Travel and Leisure, and Forbes, amongst many other international media outlets.

Dan Lam | Photo by Shaun Roberts

About the McNay Art Museum  


The McNay Art Museum engages a diverse community in the discovery and enjoyment of the visual arts. Built in the 1920s by artist and educator Marion Koogler McNay, the Spanish Colonial Revival residence became the site of Texas’s first modern art museum when it opened in 1954. Today, 200,000 visitors a year enjoy works by modern masters including Deborah Butterfield, Margarita Cabrera, Paul Gauguin, Vanessa German, Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hopper, Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel, Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Deborah Roberts. The 25 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds include sculptures by Willie Cole, Robert Indiana, Luis A. Jiménez Jr., Alejandro Martín, George Rickey, Joel Shapiro, Kiki Smith, Tom Wesselmann, and more. McNay is open Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m.  

McNay Art Museum | Beyond Reality | Dan Lam

Also Read

The Groovy Colors of Dan Lam


Story submitted by Maximus Communications. The World Art News (WAN) is not liable for the content of this publication. All statements and views expressed herein are only an opinion. Act at your own risk. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission. © The World Art News