Modern Nature: Georgia O'Keeffe and Lake George
The Hyde Collection
By Susan Wacker-Donle
PHOTOS: Susan Wacker-Donle
Alfred Stieglitz’s 36-acre family estate located on Lake George, New York influenced the work of Georgia O’Keeffe from 1918–1934, forever changing the way we view beauty of the natural world. The recent exhibit of O’Keeffe’s paintings at the Hyde Collection in Glen Falls, New York brings together, for the first time, work produced during the 16 years she summered on Lake George with the famous photographer and gallery owner. Stieglitz was responsible for introducing Ms. O’Keeffe to the NYC and International art community through his gallery 291 in Manhattan.
Fifty-eight bold, color-filled paintings make up this show accompanied by a companion exhibition, “A Family Album: Alfred Stieglitz and Lake George”. These thirty photographs by Stieglitz are a nice addition to the exhibit, giving you an intimate look into the people who resided at the country retreat known as “The Hill”. A short video, “Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life in Art” narrated by Gene Hackman created by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe documents the artist’s life with sound bytes and images spanning her career from New York City to New Mexico.
Walking the gallery, visitors are invited to dial in and use their cell phones as they view the artwork. Influences and themes are highlighted as well as comments from the painter herself adding a deeper understanding to selected pieces. Use of this state of the art technology to engage with the paintings is an impressive touch for such a tiny museum located an hour north of Albany and less than ten miles from Lake George.
“Modern Nature” is divided into six themes: Landscapes, Barns and Buildings, Abstractions, Tree Portraits, From the Garden, and Lake George Souvenirs.
Classic O’Keeffe paintings including “Petunia’s”, 1925 and lesser known “From the Lake”, 1924 and “The Chestnut Grey,“ 1924 are examples of some of the works on view.
 |
| "White Birch", 1925 |
Having my own home in Vermont, Georgia’s images of leaves, trees, and wild flowers are more real to me than ever. I was enamored with the painting “White Birch”, 1925; a visual fusion of abstract and reality capturing vibrant fall foliage. Another showstopper is a series of Jack-in-the-Pulpits lining one wall of the exhibition. The sequence starts with a somewhat realistic graphic representation that transforms from painting to painting into an up-close vision of aubergine and green flowing lines and color. On the final image, one bright crimson accent defines the abstract essence of the wildflower’s heart.
Other works such as “Brown and Tan Leaves”, 1928 and “Fall Maple Leaves”, 1925 capture autumn in rich browns, gold, and hues of rouge defined by forms of fractal abstraction as seen thru O’Keeffe’s modernistic eye.
The exhibition has closed but heads to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe (October 4 - January 26) and then to the de Young Museum in San Francisco (February 15 – May 11). I highly recommend taking in this exhibit whether you are new to O’Keeffe’s work or a long term admire of this American Master. You will always discover something new and fresh in O’Keeffe’s iconic imagery. Her images are timeless, her vision passionate and sensual using shape and color reduced to it’s simplest abstract essence to reveal nature’s heart.
