Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Encyclopedia
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is a museum
devoted to the work of the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. It opened on 17 July 1997, eleven years after the artist's death, and is located at 217 Johnson Street in Santa Fe
, New Mexico
, United States
.
's permanent collection in New York City
and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh
, Pennsylvania
.
The original director was Peter H. Hassrick, however Mr. Hassrick resigned immediately after the museums opening, leaving Jay Cantor in temporary charge, as tens of thousands of visitors arrived to view the small edifice and its contents. George King was director from 1998 to 2009. Robert Kret, formerly director of the Hunter Museum of American Art, is the current director.
Initially, with more than 140 paintings, watercolors, pastels and sculpture, the Museum's holdings represented the largest repository of work by O'Keeffe available to the public in a single institution. Subjects range from the artist's iconic flowers and bleached desert skulls to nudes, landscapes, cityscapes, still lifes and abstracts, dating between 1916 and 1980. It remains the largest permanent collection of O'Keeffe's work in the world.
The collection now includes major gifts contributed by the Burnett Foundation, the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, Anna Marie and Juan Hamilton, Gerald and Kathleen Peters, Anne W. Marion, The Stephane Janssen Trust, Anne W. Phillips, Clare and Eugene Thaw, and Emily Fisher Landau. The Museum is dedicated to the art and life of Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) as well as to the study of American Modernism, a phenomenon that began in America in the 1890s and continues into the present. Its comprehensive exhibition program acquaints visitors with the significance of O'Keeffe's art and demonstrates its importance within the context of American Modernism. O'Keeffe works from the permanent collection are always on view in museum galleries. In addition, the Museum organizes or hosts the various types of exhibitions, some of which are theme based: (1) works by O'Keeffe from our own and other collections; (2) O’Keeffe’s art shown with that of her contemporaries; (3) the art of O’Keeffe’s contemporaries; and (4) works of living artists of distinction.
It opened in July 2001 and is the only museum-related research facility in the world dedicated to the study of American Modernism. An extensive collection includes the libraries O’Keeffe maintained at her Ghost Ranch house, archives with numerous documents and correspondence pertaining to O’Keeffe and her contemporaries, and all of the personal property O’Keeffe owned at the time of her death in 1986, such as artist materials and found objects.
. Upon completion of the transaction, which took place in mid-2006, the Museum's art and archival collections increased dramatically, and the Museum became the steward of O'Keeffe's historic house in Abiquiu. The Museum already owns and maintains the artist's Ghost Ranch
property, 20 minutes north of Abiquiu.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
devoted to the work of the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. It opened on 17 July 1997, eleven years after the artist's death, and is located at 217 Johnson Street in Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
The private, non-profit Museum was founded in November 1995 by philanthropists Anne and John Marion, part-time residents of Santa Fe. The Museum building was designed by architect Richard Gluckman in association with Santa Fe firm Allegretti Architects. Gluckman's projects have included the gallery addition at the Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
's permanent collection in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
The original director was Peter H. Hassrick, however Mr. Hassrick resigned immediately after the museums opening, leaving Jay Cantor in temporary charge, as tens of thousands of visitors arrived to view the small edifice and its contents. George King was director from 1998 to 2009. Robert Kret, formerly director of the Hunter Museum of American Art, is the current director.
Initially, with more than 140 paintings, watercolors, pastels and sculpture, the Museum's holdings represented the largest repository of work by O'Keeffe available to the public in a single institution. Subjects range from the artist's iconic flowers and bleached desert skulls to nudes, landscapes, cityscapes, still lifes and abstracts, dating between 1916 and 1980. It remains the largest permanent collection of O'Keeffe's work in the world.
The collection now includes major gifts contributed by the Burnett Foundation, the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, Anna Marie and Juan Hamilton, Gerald and Kathleen Peters, Anne W. Marion, The Stephane Janssen Trust, Anne W. Phillips, Clare and Eugene Thaw, and Emily Fisher Landau. The Museum is dedicated to the art and life of Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) as well as to the study of American Modernism, a phenomenon that began in America in the 1890s and continues into the present. Its comprehensive exhibition program acquaints visitors with the significance of O'Keeffe's art and demonstrates its importance within the context of American Modernism. O'Keeffe works from the permanent collection are always on view in museum galleries. In addition, the Museum organizes or hosts the various types of exhibitions, some of which are theme based: (1) works by O'Keeffe from our own and other collections; (2) O’Keeffe’s art shown with that of her contemporaries; (3) the art of O’Keeffe’s contemporaries; and (4) works of living artists of distinction.
Research Center
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center, housed in the historic late-19th-century Bergere House at 135 Grant Street in Santa Fe, sponsors research in American Modernism (late 19th century–present) by awarding stipends through its competitive scholar program to historians in the fields of art, architecture, design, literature, music, and photography, and to museum professionals for organizing an exhibition at the Museum.It opened in July 2001 and is the only museum-related research facility in the world dedicated to the study of American Modernism. An extensive collection includes the libraries O’Keeffe maintained at her Ghost Ranch house, archives with numerous documents and correspondence pertaining to O’Keeffe and her contemporaries, and all of the personal property O’Keeffe owned at the time of her death in 1986, such as artist materials and found objects.
Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation
In early-2005, the President of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Chairman of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation announced that their boards had signed a letter of intent that established the principles under which the Foundation would transfer all of its assets to the Museum. The Foundation's collection of more than 1,000 O'Keeffe artworks and extensive archival materials would be conveyed to the Museum, as would O'Keeffe's house and studio in Abiquiu, New MexicoAbiquiú, New Mexico
Abiquiú, or Abiquiu is a small unincorporated town located in Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States, about 53 miles north of Santa Fe. In the 1730s, it was the third largest settlement in the New Mexico Territory...
. Upon completion of the transaction, which took place in mid-2006, the Museum's art and archival collections increased dramatically, and the Museum became the steward of O'Keeffe's historic house in Abiquiu. The Museum already owns and maintains the artist's Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch is a retreat and education center located close to the village of Abiquiu in Rio Arriba County in north central New Mexico. The conference center and lodgings at Ghost Ranch are run by the Presbyterian Church but open to the general public.-History:Ghost Ranch is part of Piedra...
property, 20 minutes north of Abiquiu.
Further reading
- Eldredge, Charles C., Georgia O'Keeffe, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991 ISBN 0-8109-3657-7
- Hassrick, Peter H. (ed.), The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997 ISBN 0-8109-2794-2
- Hogrefe, Jeffrey, O'Keeffe, The Life of an American Legend, New York:Bantam; 1994; ISBN 0-553-56545-1
- Lisle, Laurie, Portrait of an Artist, New York: Washington Square Press; 1986 ISBN 0-671-60040-0
- Lynes, Barbara Buhler, (et al.), Georgia O’Keeffe and New Mexico: A Sense of Place, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004 ISBN 0-691-11659-8
- Lynes, Barbara Buhler, Georgia O’Keeffe: Catalogue Raisonné, Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1999. ISBN 0-300-08176-6
- Lynes, Barbara Buhler and King, George G., Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: Highlights of the Collection, Santa Fe, NM: O’Keeffe Museum, date unk. ISBN 0-8109-9153-5
- O’Keeffe, Georgia, Georgia O’Keeffe, New York: Viking Press, 1976 ISBN 0-670-33710-2
- Montgomery, Elizabeth, Georgia O'Keeffe, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1993 ISBN 0-88029-951-7
- Peters, Sarah W., Becoming O'Keeffe, New York: Abbeville Press, 1991 ISBN 1558593624