Red Canna (paintings)
| Red Canna | |
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_by_Georgia_O%27Keeffe.jpg) |
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| Artist | Georgia O'Keeffe |
| Year | 1924 |
| Medium | Oil |
| Dimensions | 73.7 cm × 45.7 cm (29.0 in × 18.0 in) |
 Red Canna, 1923,Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts |
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Red Canna, 1927, Amon Carter Museum of American Art |
Georgia O'Keeffe made a number of Red Canna paintings of the canna lily plant, first in watercolor, such as a red canna flower bouquet painted in 1915, but primarily abstract paintings of close-up images in oil. O'Keeffe has said that she made the paintings to reflect the way that she saw flowers. Her depictions have been called erotic and compared to the female genitalia. She expressed herself through the use of vibrant colors like red, yellow, and orange.
A gardener, O'Keeffe was often inspired to make a dozen or more paintings of a specific flower. She became interested in brilliant colors and billowy petals of the canna lilies when she visited Lake George, New York in 1918 with Alfred Stieglitz. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts states that "In these extreme close-ups she established a new kind of modern still life with no references to atmospheric effects or realistic details, reflecting her statement, 'I paint because color is significant.'"
As she evolved as an artist, her works became suggestive of female form, like Inside Red Canna. Paul Rosenfeld, who owned one of her Red Canna paintings, said "…there is no stroke laid by her brush, whatever it is she may paint, that is not curiously, arrestingly female in quality. Essence of very womanhood permeates her pictures."
In 1915, O'Keeffe painted a watercolor of a bouquet of red canna blossoms on paper. The work, 19 3⁄8 by 13 inches (49.2 cm × 33.0 cm), is among the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery.
A small painting of a close-up of a red canna lily was made by O'Keefe in 1919. The 8 in × 6 in (20.3 cm × 15.2 cm) oil painting depicts the flower against a dark cloudy background. Owned by a private collector, it is on extended loan to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. It was stolen from the Santa Fe, New Mexico museum by a security guard, William Crumpton, who pleaded guilty on October 26, 2004 to stealing paintings and cash from the museum and a government office. The painting, valued at equivalent to $647,815 in 2017, was recovered.
Painted in oil on a 13 in × 9 1⁄2 in (33.0 cm × 24.1 cm) board, the red canna lily framed by green and dark yellow background colors at the top and right of the painting and dark blue at the bottom and left. The carefully blended colors and voluptuous curves reflect her emerging personal style. Once owned by Pollitzer family members of North Carolina, it was displayed at Columbia College in South Carolina, where O'Keeffe was an instructor. The painting was acquired by High Museum of Art of Atlanta by 2015.
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Wikipedia