Essay on Georgia OKeefe (includes annotated bibliography)

Georgia O’Keefe (word count includes annotated bibliography) Georgia O’Keefe is a famous American painter who painted beautiful flowers and landscapes. But she painted these images in such a way that many people believed she was portraying sexual imagery. â€Å"O’Keefe’s depictions of flowers in strict frontality and enlarged to giant scale were entirely original in character . . . the view into the open blossoms evoked an image of the female psyche and invited erotic associations.† (Joachimides 47) O’Keefe denies these allegations and says that she â€Å"magnified the scale of the flower only to ensure people would notice them.† (Haskell 203) O’Keefe’s artwork was misinterpreted because of cultural prejudice, her non-traditional lifestyle, and†¦show more content†¦When she began creating beautiful artwork in school and was being commended by other teachers and students, she gained an incredible sense of self worth and put her painful childhood in the back of her mind. (19) She g rew up to be a very strong, independent person and she did not care if she was judged, as long as she liked who she was. As a result of her father leaving when she was young, she felt that males were not good enough for her and she developed a strong sense of feminism. In fact, for awhile, Georgia explored her sexuality and dated predominantly women for a significant part of her life. This factor did effect her painting, but not in a sexual way. She painted images that were ‘close ups’, allowing you to see deep into them and to be close to them. She yearned to be close to someone but was afraid to be hurt again. Georgia’s non-traditional lifestyle did affect her life, but did not force her to create sexual female images. â€Å"It may be more accurate to read her drawings as intimations of a less literal and more profound view of reality.† (Peters 29) Georgia grew up in a time where people still had little respect for women. A woman’s role was to stay home and be a housekeeper. They had no self-worth until they were married. So, when women started to get jobs just like their husbands or lived their lives without a husband, people were shocked and most looked down upon