Brooklyn Museum Explores Georgia O'Keeffe as Style Icon

The Brooklyn Museum presents 'Georgia O'Keeffe: Living Modern', an exhibition examining the artist's personal style from March 3 to July 23, 2017. O'Keeffe (1887-1986), a pioneer of American Modernism, is celebrated for her severe black-and-white wardrobe and minimalist elegance. The show features paintings, photographs, clothing, and personal objects, including portraits by Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Cecil Beaton, Bruce Weber, and Annie Leibovitz. O'Keeffe rejected feminist labels but embodied independence and talent, carving a space for women in early 20th-century America. The exhibition highlights her stark outfits as expressions of sensuality beyond clichés. Known for vibrant flower close-ups, animal skulls, and Southwestern landscapes, O'Keeffe insisted her work depicted reality intensified, not symbols of death or eroticism. She sought simply 'something to work on'—a carcass, a flower, a horizon. The Tate Modern honored her with a major retrospective in 2016, but European museums still underrepresent her.