Explore Georgia O'Keeffe's world: from New Mexico to New York

As a new exhibition of the artist's work opens at the Tate Modern, here's how to follow in her footsteps in the US and beyond

Laura Holt
Friday 01 July 2016 17:36 BST
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Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch

This summer, the “Mother of American Modernism” gets her moment in the spotlight as London’s Tate Modern features American artist Georgia O’Keeffe from 6 July-30 October (tate.org.uk; £19).

Known for her depictions of animal skulls and sensual flowers – which O’Keeffe quipped she painted “because they were cheaper than models” - the retrospective is timed to mark a century since the artist’s New York debut in 1916. With no works by O’Keeffe permanently on show in the UK, it’s a rare chance to glimpse her work close to home. But don’t stop there: the artist’s influence extends from the skyscrapers of New York to the deserts of New Mexico - presenting opportunities to travel in her footsteps.

Windy City

Chicago proved a testing bed for O’Keeffe’s talents, as she studied at the city’s School of The Art Institute of Chicago (1905-1906) under celebrated Dutch teacher John Vanderpoel. It also provided refuge when, in 1908, she abandoned art as a career, seemingly for good. Taking up a position as a commercial artist, she refused to paint in any other capacity for four years, insisting the smell of turpentine made her sick.

The Art Institute of Chicago

If, like O’Keeffe, you need reminding of her talents, you can visit The Art Institute (artic.edu; $25/£17), the second-largest museum in the US, which houses a host of her most acclaimed works, including Sky Above Clouds IV. To get a broader picture of the city’s art scene, join the two-hour Free Tours By Foot (freetoursbyfoot.com) excursion around the Loop district, which takes in The Art Institute and other highlights.

Big Apple

New York was where O’Keeffe furthered her studies at the Art Students League, under American painter William Merritt Chase, and showed her first works in 1916.

The exhibition proved pivotal for another reason, too, as it united her with Alfred Stieglitz, the art promoter and photographer behind 291 gallery, who would later become her husband. By 1923, Stieglitz was exhibiting her work annually and her popularity reached a crescendo in 1946, when New York’s Museum of Modern Art selected her at the first woman to be featured in a retrospective.

Today, MoMA still presides over her work, including Lake George, Coat and Red, which hints at her time spent with Alfred in the lake-strewn landscape of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. After visiting O’Keeffe in Manhattan (moma.org; $23/£15.50), head Upstate to Lake George, where the waterside Sagamore (thesagamore.com) offers tranquil doubles from $110 (£75).

Lakeside in the Adirondacks

Just deserts

Perhaps O’Keeffe’s most enduring works are those of the New Mexico desert. She spent summers on remote trips through the multi-coloured mountains, camping and travelling from place to place in her vintage Model A Ford. In 1934, she visited Ghost Ranch, north of Abiquiu, which would become her home six years later, where she welcomed friends such as Allan Ginsberg and Ansel Adams.

Although her house is not open to the public, the surrounding 21,000-acre Ghost Ranch estate is. Run as an education centre and retreat, it offers regular workshops, such as the week-long Watercolors In O’Keeffe’s Backyard trip from 11-17 September, for $675 (£459); or the five-day (25-29 October) Georgia O’Keeffe Southwest Excursion Road Trip, which visits the south-west sites she loved most ($895/£608), both on an all-inclusive basis (ghostranch.org).

Her second home and studio in Abiquiu can also be visited on a tour from March to November ($35/£24), as one of several sights presided over by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (okeeffemuseum.org; $12/£8), based in Sante Fe.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum 

Flower power

In 1934, O’Keefe retreated to Bermuda after suffering from stress and stayed for a year at The Parapet, a 10-acre estate built on the highest point of Somerset Island, where she completed 12 known works. Living with three writers, she regained her passion for the natural world by exploring and painting the exotic fruit and flowers of Bermuda.

Today, you can discover what the artist found so captivating about the archipelago’s flora at the 35-acre Botanical Gardens (bgci.org), outside the capital, Hamilton, which is also home to the Masterworks Museum (bermudamasterworks.org; B$5/£1.50), where you can see several of her works.

Bird of paradise flower in Bermuda

Isle escape

By 1939, O’Keeffe’s travels had led her to another exotic archipelago, this time Hawaii, on a commercial commission for the Dole pineapple company.

Haleakala National Park

Over nine weeks, she visited a host of islands, including Oahu, but perhaps most memorably Maui, where she fell for the remote port of Hana, with its rainforests and black-sand beaches. You can stay at The Travaasa (travaasa.com; doubles from $450/£305) in Hana to explore the coast that bewitched O’Keeffe, including the Seven Sacred Pools of Haleakala National Park and Waianapanapa Beach, both of which she visited.

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