The arched windows found here give an immediate feeling of religious influence, whilst the remaining elements of the bridge shown here feel a strange choice of angle, with it hard to quite decipher precisely what we are looking at. This was not an artist who would choose the obvious way in which to capture anything, as shown with her flower paintings that enlarged elements so far beyond their natural size that a whole new world of abstraction was created. She did not want to return to traditional techniques of forming a composition for this bridge, perhaps also wanting us to consider the structure in a different way. One will often have a very different experience from climbing to the top of this bridge, as opposed to viewing the static depictions of it, and maybe O'Keeffe here is attempting to get across different angles of the bridge from the same use of oil colours. Much of 20th century art was about rethinking what had gone before, so this was entirely normal for the 1940s.
Architecture would play an important role within American art within the 20th century, but was only a peripheral aspect to O'Keeffe's oeuvre. Some of the most groundbreaking work was done by Edward Hopper, as shown in Nighthawks, for example. O'Keeffe would also stand back at times and cover the full scene of her local city or town, somehow making it truly beautiful by using the right colours to brighten and make it feel more positive. It is rare to find anyone who has been so successful across so many genres, whilst also managing to keep a consistent style across it all.
The Brooklyn Museum is a highly significant location, well worth visiting. Its collection is varied and attempts to cover a vast swathe of cultures from all around the world, dating back many centuries. Their collection of American art is particularly impressive, with some of the highlights to be found here including the likes of A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie by Albert Bierstadt, Mrs. Sylvester (Abigail Pickman) Gardiner by John Singleton Copley and A View of the Two Lakes and Mountain House, Catskill Mountains, Morning by Thomas Cole. Always check ahead if you are looking for a specific artwork as not all of it is on display at the same time, with much rotated throughout the year, or replaced by their regular exhibitions. There are also a number of other Georgia O'Keeffe paintings to be found here too, such as Red Hills with the Pedernal, Dark Tree Trunks, Green, Yellow and Orange and also Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills (Ram's Head and White Hollyhock, New Mexico).
