As mentioned last week, I recently visited the southwest of America, specifically New Mexico. On the last day of my visit, I went to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, including their current rotating exhibition- Georgia O’Keeffe: Making a Life. The museum described the exhibition as a “[showcase of] art and objects from the Museum’s collections that exemplify O’Keeffe’s way of living and creating, including books, furniture, artist’s materials, clothing, and accessories.” While small, this exhibition held two rooms with personal effects of O’Keeffe, including her work overalls, drawing utensils, and even some unfinished works. If you remember back to some of my earlier blog posts, I said one of my main focuses for this archival project with Belén was to document the artist both through her work and her personality. Making a Life showed me a glimpse of what the end result of this practice can look like.
Image 1: Image of an unfinished work by Georgia O'Keeffe. This piece, among her other personal items, was on display for Georgia O’Keeffe: Making a Life.
Again as I said last week, I’m not a big O'Keeffe fan. However, being able to see some of her personality, like her large collection of cookbooks, deconstructed the image of the artist I had in my head. When we see famous works of art, as an audience we tend to put these artists on pedestals, almost deifying them, so that the importance of the work matches the importance of the artist. However, I think it’s more worthwhile to show these little strides of personality, as it humanizes the artist and allows us to connect with them on a more relatable level. Witnessing O'Keeffe's everyday items and personal interests in the exhibition reminded me that she was just a person like anyone else, with hobbies, preferences, and quirks. It serves as a reminder that creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum but is intertwined with the fabric of daily life. As I left the museum, I couldn't help but reflect on the significance of documenting both the artistic output and the human side of creators like O'Keeffe, enriching our understanding of their legacy beyond just their renowned works. In essence, it's these glimpses into the lives of artists that truly complete the picture of their artistic journey.