Georgia O'Keeffe’s studio in New Mexico couldn’t have been more different to Bacon’s. Clean, minimalistic and serene, the artist’s studio remains located on the east side of the small unincorporated village of Abiquiú. The building, in which O’Keeffe lived from 1945 until 1984, is a single storey adobe structure, built in the traditional style, on a 5000 square foot Spanish Colonial-era compound that was in total ruin when she found it. O’Keeffe spent four years restoring the building, helping redesign its thick adobe walls and flat roof, which are supported by a collection of wooden viga beams.
Although it retains some traditional features, the house also displays a number of modernist elements, including skylights and large windows, which provided O’Keeffe with expansive views of the surrounding landscape and abundant natural light. O'Keeffe was insistent on building a studio that didn’t adhere strictly to traditional form, stating "I didn't want a Spanish house; I didn't want an Indian house, or a Mexican house; I wanted my house!"
Although it retains some traditional features, the house also displays a number of modernist elements, including skylights and large windows, which provided O’Keeffe with expansive views of the surrounding landscape and abundant natural light. O'Keeffe was insistent on building a studio that didn’t adhere strictly to traditional form, stating "I didn't want a Spanish house; I didn't want an Indian house, or a Mexican house; I wanted my house!"
Having become preoccupied with capturing the colorful landscapes of the badlands of New Mexico, O’Keeffe would drive many miles each day, seeking mountains, rocks, animal bones, or vegetation, which she would either collect or paint in situ. O’Keeffe was extremely organized. She kept all her drawings in named file folders, took photographs of her still subjects from many different angles, and in different lighting states, and always kept her brushes meticulously trimmed.
She would often take the objects she found in her long desert wanderings back to her studio. As she recalled, “I have picked flowers where I found them, have picked up seashells and rocks and pieces of wood where there were seashells and rocks and pieces of wood that I liked. When I found the beautiful white bones on the desert I picked them up and took them home too. I have used these things to say what is to me the wideness and wonder of the world as I live in it.”
(Source: mutualart.com)
She would often take the objects she found in her long desert wanderings back to her studio. As she recalled, “I have picked flowers where I found them, have picked up seashells and rocks and pieces of wood where there were seashells and rocks and pieces of wood that I liked. When I found the beautiful white bones on the desert I picked them up and took them home too. I have used these things to say what is to me the wideness and wonder of the world as I live in it.”
(Source: mutualart.com)
