Recent Publications Explore Georgia O'Keeffe's Artistic Relationship with Landscape

Three recent publications examine the career of American modernist Georgia O'Keeffe, focusing on her deep connection to landscape. The first, 'Through the Long Desert: Georgia O'Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright' by Sarah Rovang, published by Rizzoli Electa in September 2025, analyzes parallels between O'Keeffe and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Both were born in southern Wisconsin, later lived in Southwestern deserts, and had professional ties to Chicago and New York, with shared interests in form, function, and materiality. The book includes archival photographs, drawings, and paintings, plus a timeline contextualizing their lives with historical events like the Great Depression and World Wars. The second publication, 'Georgia O'Keeffe: Watercolors 1916–1918' by Amy Von Lintel, co-published by Radius Books and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in June 2016, studies 51 watercolors created while O'Keeffe taught at West Texas Normal College (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, Texas. It reproduces 46 works at actual scale, highlighting her transition to abstraction, with pieces like 'Sunrise' (1916) and 'No.III Light Coming on the Plains' (1917) reflecting the West Texas environment. The third, 'Georgia O'Keeffe, Photographer' by Lisa Volpe, published by Yale University Press in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in November 2021, accompanied a 2021 exhibition at MFAH. It examines O'Keeffe's 30-year photographic practice, including 35mm and 120mm film and Polaroids, often capturing landscapes she previously painted. These books collectively offer niche perspectives on O'Keeffe's work, centered on her enduring engagement with place.