Cow skull: red, white and blue

Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue was created by O'Keeffe in 1931. It is done in oil on canvas and measures 101.3 x 91.1 cm. The painting was created at a time when many artists of different genres were exploring themes and styles in an attempt to produce a unique and defined American art.

Out of context, the skull in this painting takes on a monumentality and iconic meaning. The black central stripe against the horizontal spread of the antlers has religious connotations and is reminiscent of the wooden crosses of the New Mexico desert, which O'Keeffe also painted. The top of the skull is smooth and flat, while the bottom is made up of irregular pinnacles and hollows, as if the bone had been carved by the same elemental forces that formed the rugged landscape of New Mexico. The red verticals contrast with the bleached bone in its cold surrounding blue. Diagonal modulations in this blue painted area enliven the static image with folds reminiscent of a worn valley or draped cloth.

Instead of paying homage to the lush pastoral landscape of the New World as the Regionalist painters did, or reflecting on urban problems like the painters of the American scene, he often focused on images that at first seemed more desolate: the skull of a cow or a brown. hill or a largely featureless adobe wall. .

Georgia O'Keeffe was born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, in 1887, the second of seven children. He received early encouragement to study art from his mother and took watercolor lessons from a local artist, Sara Mann. O'Keeffe came from a family where female education was stressed and was fortunate to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1905 to 1906, where she studied with John Vanderpoel. In the fall of 1907, O'Keeffe moved to New York City and attended classes at the Art Students League, studying with teacher and artist William Merritt Chase. Georgia O'Keeffe spent 70 years making art and contributing to the development of American modernism. He was a prominent member of the creative Stieglitz Circle, which influenced early American modernists. Georgia O'Keeffe died on March 6, 1986 at the age of 98.