We’re fast finding that there’s not much to do in New Mexico. Which, we’re also discovering, is why people move here.  To get away from the big city, to drown their loneliness in alcohol and meth, or to immerse themselves in the unparalleled nature of Santa Fe and pursue a life of art.  The late Georgia O’Keeffe is an example of a historically renowned artist who spent much of her prolific career in Santa Fe, eventually moving here permanently. But…

…alllllrighty then, Georgia. Moving on.

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe is the largest collection of her work available to the viewing public.  While she’s typically known or thought of for vagina flowers, O’Keeffe was also responsible for a vast body of work that had nothing to do with flowers and maybe just a little bit of vaginas, but still.  What I’ve loved most about her art are the shading and contours, the dramatic shadows exaggerating the lowlights and highlights of shapes.  And how she eliminates depth between objects by flattening distances.

No caption necessary.

I learned something new at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and that was the importance her husband played in her life and career. Photographer Alfred Stieglitz shot over 300 portraits of O’Keeffe over time, making her one of the most photographed women of the 20th Century.  In fact, it’s arguable that because of the marketing platform he built around her, that her work truly catapulted to the masses.  This room in the back of the museum was dedicated to some of these photographs of the artist, as well as Stieglitz’s other work, dedicated to convincing the early art world to take photography seriously.