All of these paintings were produced in 1927, most likely in a very close proximity to each other. Georgia O'Keeffe would dominate your attention with the single flower head, thrust into the bottom half of the canvas. The painting is over a metre tall, and so we can imagine how powerful this image would be in person, even before we look elsewhere to see what other items have been added to this composition. She would feature white flowers with a passion, though others in shades of red, orange and yellow would also be used, with the artist trying out different plants in order to deliver a variety of colours during her spell focusing on flowers and leaves. She would later try out many other genres, such as cityscapes, landscapes and depictions of animal bones. There was also a greater movement towards abstraction later on, as seen with the likes of The Beyond and My Last Door.
The artist creates a feeling of depth in this painting by contrasting the shades of white as the flowers pushes from its centre out to the supporting petals. There are shadows as well which help us to imagine the flower in real life, rather than a completely flat depiction which would not look as realistic. Within this composition, behind the dominant white rose there is a number of larkspur above, as well as some touches of green leaves on which the rose sits. O'Keeffe would sometimes include a plant's leaves alongside the main flower head, often for the purposes of a variation of colour and also sometimes a different texture.
"...Nobody sees a flower-really... I'll paint what I see-what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it—I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers..."
Head to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA, to see this fine artwork in person, though check ahead to make sure that it is on display, as they have a huge collection of art which cannot all be out on show at the same time. Two of our personal highlights to be found here would have to be Hokusai's Great Wave of Kanagawa and also Hockney's majestic Garrowby Hill, both of which help to draw in huge numbers of visitors to this popular venue all year round. They also have other O'Keeffe paintings to enjoy here too, making it a well rounded art institution with much to offer all manner of different tastes. Around the period of this work, in 1927, she also worked with other flowers and plants, such as poppies, petunias, and calla lilies.
