© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Currently not on view
Narcissa's Last Orchid,
1940
Georgia O'Keeffe, 1887–1986; born Sun Prairie, WI; died Santa Fe, NM; active New York and New Mexico
x1982-357
Here, O'Keeffe exploits the directness and tactility of drawing in pastel, using her finger to massage the color into the paper to create painterly effects. She first used pastel at the New York Art Students League in 1907–8. The orchid pictured was a gift to O’Keeffe from her friend Narcissa Swift King, who, offended she was not thanked, declared, "That’s the last orchid you’ll ever get from me!" Nevertheless, the two women remained friendly. O’Keeffe had previously likened perceiving a flower to nurturing a friendship: "Still—in a way— nobody sees a flower—really—it is so small—we haven’t time— and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time."
More About This Object
Information
Title
Narcissa's Last Orchid
Dates
1940
Maker
Medium
Pastel
Dimensions
54.5 x 69.1 cm (21 7/16 x 27 3/16 in.)
frame: 74.5 × 89.7 × 4.5 cm (29 5/16 × 35 5/16 × 1 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of David H. McAlpin, Class of 1920
Object Number
x1982-357
Signatures
Signed and dated in ink, on verso of support: Georgia O’Keefe – 1940
Culture
Materials
Subject
- Georgia O'Keeffe: new paintings, (New York: An American Place, 1941).
- Princeton alumni collections: works on paper, (Princeton, NJ: Published by the Art Museum, Princeton University, in association with Princeton University Press, 1981)., p. 98; p. 99 (illus.)
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1982", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 42, no. 1 (1983): p. 50-70., p. 55
- David Turner and Barbara Haskell, Georgia O'Keeffe, works on paper: [an exhibition ... Sept. 14 - Nov. 17, 1985], (Santa Fe, NM: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1985)., p. 83; pl. 32
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 32 (illus.)
- Nicholas Callaway, Georgia O’Keeffe: One Hundred Flowers, (New York: Knopf in association with Callaway Editions, 1987)., pl. 92
- Jennifer Saville, Georgia O’Keeffe, paintings of Hawai’i, (Honolulu, HI: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1990). , p. 36
- Nancy Frazier, Georgia O'Keeffe, (New York: Crescent Books, 1990)., p. 36-37 (illus.)
- Maria Costantino, Georgia O'Keeffe, (New York, NY: Smithmark, 1994)., p. 110-111 (illus.)
- Ruth Fine, Barbara Buhler Lynes, Elizabeth Glassman and Judith C. Walsh, O'Keeffe on paper, (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art; Santa Fe: Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 2000)., cat. no. 50; p. 131 (color illus.); p. 70-71
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Michael Plante, Ida Kohlmeyer: systems of color, (New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, distributed in the U.S. and Canada by National Book Network, 2004).
, fig. 6; p. 13 (illus.) - John Wilmerding et al., American Art in the Princeton University Art Museum: volume 1: drawings and watercolors, (Princeton: Princeton University Art Museum; New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 2004), p. 335, checklist no. 763 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), 24 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 298
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West to Wesselmann: American Drawings and Watercolors from the Princeton University Art Museum (October 16, 2004–July 23, 2006)
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An Educated Eye: The Princeton University Art Museum Collection (Friday, February 22, 2008 - Sunday, June 15, 2008)
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Ansel Adams to Edward Weston: Celebrating the Legacy of David H. McAlpin Saturday, June 25, 2016 - Sunday, October 02, 2016
