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The main source of inspiration for her characteristic style is most closely linked to her training under Arthur Wesley Dow, whose theories emphasized the importance of simplifying and isolating form to reveal its essence. O’Keeffe famously wrote in 1922, “Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only be selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things.”
Exhibition History“Georgia O’Keeffe Paintings, 1928,” Intimate Gallery, New York, NY, February 4-March 17, 1929, as Faded and Black Leaves
“Georgia O’Keeffe: Paintings—New & Some Old,” An American Place, New York, NY, January 7, February 16, 1933, no. 20, as Autumn Leaves?
“Georgia O’Keeffe: Exhibition of Paintings (1919-1934),” An American Place, New York, NY, January 27 – March 11, 1935, no. 11, as Autumn Leaves
“Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe,” Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Il, January 21 – February 22, 1943, no. 24
“Georgia O’Keeffe Retrospective,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, October – November, 1970, no. 58
“Georgia O’Keeffe: American and Modern,” Hayward Gallery, London, April 8 – June 27, 1993, no. 51
“Modern Nature Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George,” The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, June 15 – September 15, 2013; Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM, October 4, 2023-January 26, 2014; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, February 8- May 11, 2014, cat. no. 45.
Provenance(An American Place, New York, NY)
Anita O’Keeffe (Mrs. Robert R.) Young, Newport, Rhode Island, 1943
Estate of Anita O’Keeffe (Mrs. Robert R.) Young, 1985
Robert R. Young Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1985
Sotheby’s New York, NY, sale no. 5658, lot no. 4, 3 December 1987
Gerald and Kathleen Peters, Santa Fe, NM
Artist
Georgia O'Keeffe
(American, 1887 - 1986)
Brown and Tan Leaves
Date1928
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 39 7/8 × 29 3/4 in. (101.3 × 75.6 cm)
Object numberN0014.2023
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust.
“Brown and Tan Leaves”, 1928 by Georgia O’Keefe
© 2023 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Richard Walker.
Label TextBetween the years 1918-1934, O’Keeffe would spend extended summers at Alfred Stieglitz’s family estate, located just north of Lake George Village. During this period, she found herself inspired by the area around Lake George. The over 200 works done in Lake George represent an abstract and modernist take on panoramic views of the lake, mountains, close ups of trees, flowers, and barns as well as intimate, yet monumental studies of leaves. O’Keeffe would often collect leaves that appealed to her for their striking diversity of shape and color. She created twenty-nine leaf paintings between 1922 and 1931, all based on leaves she’d found and collected while at Lake George.The main source of inspiration for her characteristic style is most closely linked to her training under Arthur Wesley Dow, whose theories emphasized the importance of simplifying and isolating form to reveal its essence. O’Keeffe famously wrote in 1922, “Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only be selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things.”
Exhibition History“Georgia O’Keeffe Paintings, 1928,” Intimate Gallery, New York, NY, February 4-March 17, 1929, as Faded and Black Leaves
“Georgia O’Keeffe: Paintings—New & Some Old,” An American Place, New York, NY, January 7, February 16, 1933, no. 20, as Autumn Leaves?
“Georgia O’Keeffe: Exhibition of Paintings (1919-1934),” An American Place, New York, NY, January 27 – March 11, 1935, no. 11, as Autumn Leaves
“Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe,” Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Il, January 21 – February 22, 1943, no. 24
“Georgia O’Keeffe Retrospective,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, October – November, 1970, no. 58
“Georgia O’Keeffe: American and Modern,” Hayward Gallery, London, April 8 – June 27, 1993, no. 51
“Modern Nature Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George,” The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, June 15 – September 15, 2013; Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM, October 4, 2023-January 26, 2014; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, February 8- May 11, 2014, cat. no. 45.
Provenance(An American Place, New York, NY)
Anita O’Keeffe (Mrs. Robert R.) Young, Newport, Rhode Island, 1943
Estate of Anita O’Keeffe (Mrs. Robert R.) Young, 1985
Robert R. Young Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1985
Sotheby’s New York, NY, sale no. 5658, lot no. 4, 3 December 1987
Gerald and Kathleen Peters, Santa Fe, NM
On View
On viewc. 1885-1887
