GEORGIA O’KEEFFE: VISIONS OF HAWAI‘I
Bringing together 20 of Georgia O’Keeffe’s little-known depictions of Hawai‘i from a nine-week sojourn in 1939 while on commission to produce images for a Hawaiian Pineapple Company promotional campaign, this exhibition offered a new perspective on the pioneering American modernist. A lush flower show in the Haupt Conservatory explored the remarkable beauty and variety of Hawaiian flora—as well as its complex botanical and cultural history. A stunning exhibition in the Art Gallery—featuring O’Keeffe’s Hawai‘i paintings and other works—spotlighted a transformative experience in the legendary artist’s life. Like many of her well-known paintings, from stark New Mexican landscapes to New York cityscapes, O’Keeffe’s dramatic Hawaiian imagery conveyed a distinct sense of place with lava-studded beaches and towering waterfalls as well as close-ups of the exotic tropical flowers that she encountered.
