Georgia O'Keeffe

O'Keeffe painted rural idylls, severe urban nocturnes, a transcendental cloudscape and vibrantly colorful dot-pictures. Beginning in the 1950s, her wide travels triggered mystical paintings, such as her shimmering recollection of the Peruvian Andes. The colorful, swirling Pelvic Holes series of the U.S. Southwest, overshadowed by her austere images of cows' skulls, evoke something distinctively American. This superbly illustrated study contains many astonishing works and presents O'Keeffe as a more original, deeply informed and diverse artist than many assume. Eldredge, University of Kansas art professor, argues that O'Keeffe's flower paintings, known for their sexual imagery, are freighted with associations from ancient mythology. He traces the influence of Kandinsky's color theory on her palette, the spectrum of which was amplified by Texas sunrises, upstate New York lakes and New Mexico deserts. (June)