This catalog documents an exhibit devoted to Georgia O’Keeffe mounted by the Kunsthaus Zürich from October 24, 2003 to February 1, 2004. The show was a sign that O’Keeffe had been admitted to the pantheon of great modern artists in Europe after long enjoying this status in North America.
Along with more than seventy of O’Keeffe’s paintings and drawings were photographs of her, notably those by her promoter and husband, Alfred Stieglitz. Although his figure studies contributed to a reductionist interpretation of her flower paintings, my take after reading the essays in this book is that these were not exploitation but that O’Keeffe worked with Stieglitz in forming her public persona. Her life, her work, and the photos interpret each other. Taken together, they present the image of an autonomous personality.
The essays by Bice Curiger, Carter Ratcliff, and Peter J. Schneemann reiterate this. While the reading “flowers equal genitalia” is too simplistic, it seems that O’Keeffe’s denial of this view should not be taken at face value either.
The book includes “Momentaufnahmen,” short reactions by sixteen artists. While most are positive, some indicate they admire the person and what she represents more than the work. This seems related to her delayed reception in Europe. Her work is too abstract to be representational, too representational to be abstract.
O’Keeffe has been a favorite since I first saw her paintings in the 1960s. I enjoyed the Zurich retrospective, a mix of familiar work and many I hadn’t seen before. And I’m glad I can revisit the exhibit through the pages of this book. ( )