Article on Georgia O’Keeffe (by Siti Nor Alisha)

Guess who is in town?

Georgia O’Keeffe, a well known icon in the artistic world is coming to our country to live permanently. Since I was given the privilege to write an article about the world leading female painter, I was thrill and nervous in the same time as the person that I am going to write about is an American’s artist icon. To make things easier, I have personally meet her up to have a short interview with her. In the end, I found out that she was not as complicated as I thought she will be. She is a very simple lady. During the interview, she dresses in a plain knee-length skirt, matched with a plain blouse and wore a brooch to add in a little attention on her blouse. Then, she speaks out whatever in her mind but in a carefully selected sentence as she does not wish to offend anyone. Her voice is soft but clear enough to hear her and she responds every question with a smile. Furthermore, she does not hold back on whatever question that I had poured on her and she tries her very best to fill up all my inquiries.
Through the interview, I had learned that she was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and her entire childhood revolves around the farm that her family owns. Her mother is a very educated person therefore; she ensures that all her children receive the best education without prejudice than boys should study more than the girls. At a very young age, her mother has encouraged all her children to paint. So, at a very young age, she has started to draw portraits of her families, friends and teachers. In one of her art classes, she was inspired to draw still lives objects when her teacher thought her students to paint a leaf that she had brought into the class.
From there on, her confidence to become an artist grew and she manages to further her studies in the Arts Students League in New York City. There, she won a scholarship to study in the League’s summer school which is located in the Lake Georgia after her painting of Dead Rabbit and Copper Pot was selected as the winner. Once graduated, she works as an illustrator for advertising company and felt bored about it and began to teach. To further up her teaching profession, she took up a course in the Columbia Teachers College. Since her schedule was free, she begins to paint and shares her painting with one of her friend, Anita Pollitzer. Anita was fascinated with her painting and brought it to a famous photographer, Alfred Stieglitz who owns a gallery. Without knowing, her works had been open to the public in Stieglitz gallery and her paintings became the main attraction.
From there onwards, she starts producing more paintings that are more abstract and self-expressed. Most of her paintings were displayed and handled by Stieglitz as he was very fond of her paintings. Throughout her life, she had produces numerous paintings periodically based on subjects she found the normal people have overlooked and the surrounding area that she had lived. She tries her very best to convey her message and thoughts she has on the subject through her painting. That is why she paints her painting big together with details that are necessary brings out the life ness of her objects.
In conclusion, she is not just an artist but a leading woman with strong determination to bring her paintings and messages across the entire world. This is seen clearly from the medals and recognition she has receives throughout her entire career. To illustrate, she was elected as a member of American Academy of Arts and Letters and became the first woman to have retrospective show of her arts at the Museum of Modern Art. Moreover, she was even awarded with the Gold Medal of Painting by the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the Medal of Freedom which is the nation’s highest civilian honor. Her highest achievement is she was presented with the National Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan. Therefore, there is no exaggeration to say she is the leading female American artist and we, as the citizen are much honored to have her to spend the rest of her live here.


Done by:
Siti Nor Alisha (0507P54329)