Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time

Recalling a charcoal she created in 1916, Georgia O'Keeffe once reflected, “I have made this drawing several times—never remembering that I had made it before—and not knowing where the idea came from.” These drawings, along with the majority of her works in charcoal, watercolor, pastel, and graphite, belong to series where she develops and transforms motifs that exist between observation and abstraction. In the crucial years of 1915 to 1918, she produced just as many works on paper as she would in the following 40 years, creating sequences of abstract lines, organic landscapes, and nudes in watercolor, as well as charcoal drawings grouped under the label of "specials." While her focus shifted towards canvas in later decades, she revisited important series on paper, including charcoal flowers in the 1930s, portraits in the 1940s, and aerial views in the 1950s.

Accompanying an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this extensively illustrated book showcases the sketches of a painter who was also an accomplished artist. It brings together individual drawings with their corresponding series, offering insight into O'Keeffe's consistently sequential approach.