Kosmos Klee. The Collection @ Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern - Permanent Exhibition with some 80 changing works from the collection

Kosmos Klee. The Collection

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern 

Permanent Exhibition

Paul and Lily Klee with the cat Bimbo, 

Kistlerweg 6, Bern, 1935

Photo: Fee Meisel

Paul Klee

Ohne Titel (Villa am Langensee) 

[Untitled (Villa at the Langensee)], 1896

Watercolour on paper, 9,9 × 15 cm

Private collection, Switzerland, 

deposit at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern

Paul Klee

Ohne Titel (Rückenakt) [Nude from Behind], 1902

Pencil on paper on cardboard, 32,5 × 28,5 cm

Private collection, Switzerland, 

deposit at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern

The dynamic permanent exhibition devoted to Paul Klee invites visitors to immerse themselves in the life and work of this important modern artist. With some 80 changing works from the collection, Kosmos Klee offers a chronological survey of Klee’s artistic career. Biographical and archival material provide an insight into his life and time. In addition, the ‘focus room’ offers a space for smaller exhibitions devoted to individual aspects of Klee’s work, or contributions to the artist’s global reception.

Paul Klee

In den Häusern v. St. Germain 

[ In the Houses of St. Germain], 1914, 110

Watercolour on paper on cardboard

15,5 × 15,9/16,3 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, donation of Livia Klee

Paul Klee

Tunesische Scizze [Tunisian Sketch], 1914, 212

Watercolour and pencil on paper on cardboard

17,9 × 12,2 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, donation of Livia Klee

Paul Klee

Ohne Titel (Fabrikanlage) 

[Untitled (Factory Plant)], 1922

Watercolour and pencil on paper on cardboard

10 × 8,9 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, donation of Livia Klee

Zentrum Paul Klee: The collection

The Zentrum Paul Klee is the world’s most important centre for research into Paul Klee’s life and work, and has one of the most significant collections of the artist’s drawings, watercolours and paintings. Paul Klee was primarily a draughtsman, which is why 80% of the collection of the Zentrum Paul Klee consists of works on paper, matching the collected works. Because of the fragility of the works as well as the large size and diversity of the collection, only parts of it can be displayed at once. Paul Klee enjoyed experimenting, not only in terms of content and form but also technically, using light-sensitive paints, inks and papers. For that reason the works need periods of rest between periods on display.

Paul Klee

Karneval im Gebirge 

[Carnival in the Mountains], 1924, 114

Watercolour on primed paper on cardboard

24 × 31,3 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern

Paul Klee

Fische im Kreis [Fishes in a Circle], 1926, 140

Oil and tempera on primed muslin on cardboard

42 × 43 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, donation of Livia Klee

Paul Klee

Nordzimmer [North Room], 1932, 17

Watercolour on paper on cardboard

37 × 55 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern

Kosmos Klee

With Kosmos Klee. The Collection the Zentrum Paul Klee offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in Paul Klee’s life and work, as well as in the unique collection of the institution. Some 80 rotating and chronologically organised works provide an overview of Klee’s artistic development, from the highly detailed early works via tendencies towards abstraction and the discovery of colour, to the reduced pictorial language of the later work. Each decade of Klee’s artistic career is identified by a colour in the exhibition, allowing visitors to find their way intuitively around the space. Brief introductory texts, biographical photographs and films give deeper insights into the different phases of the work and Paul Klee’s engagement with the people around him.

Paul Klee

Doppel gesicht [Double face], 1933, 383

Coloured pastel and pencil on paper on cardboard

33 × 21 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, donation of Livia Klee

Paul Klee

Spätes Glühen [Late Glowing], 1934, 29

Pastel on damask on cardboard

26,8 x 32,5/34,3 cm

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, donation of Livia Klee

Aside from his works, the Zentrum Paul Klee also preserves the artist’s archive. In the dynamic permanent exhibition, different treasures from the archive are presented, revealing the various aspects of Paul Klee’s life. His love of music is reflected in his record collection and the scores that Paul Klee, a gifted violinist, played from. Klee’s favourite music can be heard as part of a podcast in the exhibition. Parts of the artist’s collection of natural materials, including shells, stones and pages from herbariums, display Klee’s close relationship with nature and natural processes. Other objects include his watercolour box, his schoolbooks, scribbled over with drawings, as well as letters.

Curator: Fabienne Eggelhöfer

And Cover Star Klee, Paul Klee Artworks on Book Covers Exhibition, Through September 14, 2025.

ZENTRUM PAUL KLEE

Monument im Fruchtland 3, 3006 Bern 

zpk.org

Nigerian Modernism @ Tate Modern, London - This Major Exhibition traces the development of modern art in Nigeria with 50 artists and 250 artworks across 50 years

Nigerian Modernism 

Tate Modern, London

9 October 2025 - 11 May 2026

Uzo Egonu 

Stateless People an artist with beret, 1981

© The estate of Uzo Egonu. Private Collection

Ben Enwonwu

The Durbar of Eid-ul-Fitr, Kano, Nigeria, 1955

© Ben Enwonwu Foundation. Private Collection

Bruce Onobrakpeya,

The Last Supper, 1981

© Reserved. Tate Collection

Tate Modern presents the first UK exhibition to trace the development of modern art in Nigeria. Spanning a period from indirect colonial rule to national independence and beyond, Nigerian Modernism will celebrate an international network of artists who combined African and European traditions, creating a vibrant artistic legacy. The exhibition presents the work of over 50 artists across 50 years, from Ben Enwonwu to El Anatsui. They each responded to Nigeria’s evolving political and social landscape by challenging assumptions and imagining new futures, reclaiming Indigenous traditions to create a new African vision of Modernism. Featuring more than 250 works, including painting, sculpture, textile, ceramics and works on paper from institutions and private collections across Africa, Europe and the US, it offers a rare opportunity to encounter the creative forces who revolutionised modern art in Nigeria.

Nigerian Modernism - List of artists: Jonathan Adagogo Green, Tayo Adenaike, Jacob Afolabi, Adebisi Akanji, Justus D. Akeredolu, Jimo Akolo, El Anatsui, Chike C. Aniakor, Abayomi Barber, Georgina Beier, Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian, Jimoh Buraimoh, Avinash Chandra, Nike Davies-Okundaye, Ndidi Dike, Uzo Egonu, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Afi Ekong, Erhabor Emokpae, Ben Enwonwu, Sir Jacob Epstein, Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu, Okpu Eze, Adebisi Fabunmi, Agboola Folarin, Buraimoh Gbadamosi, Sàngódáre Gbádégesin Àjàlá, Yusuf Grillo, Felix Idubor, Solomon Irein Wangboje, Ladi Kwali, Akinola Lasekan, Jacob Lawrence, Valente Malangatana, Naoko Matsubara, Demas Nwoko, Olu Oguibe, Rufus Ogundele, J.D Ojeikere, Emmanuel Okechukwu Odita, Simon Okeke, Uche Okeke, Olowe of Ise, Asiru Olatunde, Lamidi Olonade Fakeye, Oseloka Okwudili Osadebe, Aina Onabolu, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Ben Osawe, Muraina Oyelami, Ru van Rossem, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Gerard Sekoto, Twins Seven Seven, Ahmad Shibrain, F.N. Souza, Ada Udechukwu, Obiora Udechukwu, Etso Clara Ugbodaga-Ngu, Susanne Wenger.

Ben Enwonwu 

The Dancer (Agbogho Mmuo - Maiden Spirit Mask) 1962 

© Ben Enwonwu Foundation, 

courtesy Ben Uri Gallery & Museum

The exhibition begins in the 1940s amid calls for decolonisation across Africa and its diaspora. With the Nigerian education system under British governance, many artists trained in Britain, adopting European artistic techniques and witnessing Western modernism’s fixation on African art. The balance between Nigeria’s Indigenous traditions, colonial realities and calls for independence was evident in the practices of artists, many of whom became involved in arts education and reform. Aina Onabolu pioneered new figurative portraits of Lagos society figures, whilst Akinola Lasekan depicted scenes from Yoruba legends and history. Globally celebrated artists of the period, Ben Enwonwu and Ladi Kwali, combined their Western training with Nigerian visual art traditions. Drawing upon his knowledge of Igbo sculpture, Ben Enwonwu adapted his Slade School education to celebrate the beauty of Black and African culture. Meanwhile, Ladi Kwali who trained under British potter Michael Cardew at Pottery Training Centre in Abuja, developed a new style of ceramic art that synthesised traditional Gwarri techniques and European studio pottery.

Jimo Akolo 

Fulani Horsemen, 1962

© Reserved. Courtesy Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu

Elemu Yoruba Palm Wine Seller, 1963

© Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu. Hampton University Museum

National independence on 1 October 1960 inspired a sense of optimism throughout the country, with artistic groups creating art for a new nation. The exhibition will look at the legacy of The Zaria Arts Society whose members included Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya and Jimo Akolo. Encouraged by teachers like Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu, they developed independent creative styles centred around a concept of ‘Natural Synthesis’, merging Indigenous forms with modern expression. In the 1960s amid an economic boom, Lagos became a dynamic cultural hub, inspiring tropical modernist architecture, public art commissions and nightclubs filled with Highlife music. Meanwhile in Ibadan, The Mbari Artists’ and Writers’ Club founded by German publisher Ulli Beier, offered a discursive space run by an international group of artists, writers and dramatists including Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Malangatana Ngwenya. The Mbari Club was closely associated with the influential Pan-African modernist journal Black Orpheus, which will be displayed at Tate Modern.

During this period, many artists reflected on Nigeria’s rich cultural and religious heritage as home to more than 250 ethnic groups. The late 1950s saw the emergence of the New Sacred Art Movement, founded by Austrian born artist Susanne Wenger who drew on Yoruba deities and beliefs to explore the ritual power of art. The group led the restoration of the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove where ancient shrines were adorned with cement sculptures and carvings. In parallel, The Oshogbo Art School emerged out of series of influential workshops at Duro Ladipo’s Popular Bar providing a space for experimentation among untrained artists and performers including Nike Davies-Okundaye, Jacob Afolabi and Twins Seven Seven who explored Yoruba cultural identity and personal mythologies in their work.

Obiora Udechukwu 

Our Journey, 1993 

© Obiora Udechukwu. Hood Museum of Art

The outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967 caused a cultural and political crisis for many artists. The post-independence feeling of optimism and unity were replaced with division, and later a desire to reconnect across Nigeria’s diverse ethnic groups. The exhibition looks to the revival of ‘uli’ - linear Igbo designs which can be decorative or represent natural elements and everyday objects. Historically passed down between women, artists like Uche Okeke who had inherited this knowledge from his mother, and those from the Nsukka Art School including Obiora Udechukwu, Tayo Adenaike and Ndidi Dike, adapted this visual language as a modernist art form, reclaiming an element of ancestral culture and reflecting on the struggles of conflict during the war.

Uzo Egonu

Northern Nigerian Landscape, 1964

© The estate of Uzo Egonu. Tate

Uzo Egonu 

Women in Grief, 1968 

© The estate of Uzo Egonu. Tate

The exhibition ends with a spotlight on Uzo Egonu, exploring how artists towards the end of the 20th century began to respond to global Nigerian identities. Living in Britain since the 1940s, Uzo Egonu’s work was informed by his perspective as an expatriate, creating works imbued by his childhood memories and feelings of nostalgia, as well as his response to current events, observed from overseas. The exhibition brings together Uzo Egonu’s Stateless People paintings, the first time these works have been reunited in 40 years. Begun in 1980, the series reflects on questions of nationhood and cultural identity. Depicting a single figure in each painting - a musician, artist and writer - Uzo Egonu represents the growing visibility of Nigeria’s diaspora around the world. The series sums up the tension between national identity and artistic independence which shaped Nigeria’s story of modern art.

Nigerian Modernism is curated by Osei Bonsu, Curator, International Art, Tate Modern and Bilal Akkouche, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate Modern.

TATE MODERN

Bankside, London SE1 9TG

www.tate.org.uk

Crossing Borders: Modern Art from South Asia. A Landmark Selling Exhibition @ Phillips, London

Crossing Borders: Modern Art from South Asia 

A Landmark Selling Exhibition

Phillips, London

10 – 31 July, 2025

Viswanadhan (b. 1940)

Sans titre, 2001

Courtesy of Phillips

Sayed Haider Raza (1922-2016)

Bindu-Temps-Espace, 1988

Courtesy of Phillips

PhillipsX, in collaboration with Grosvenor Gallery, Europe’s leading gallery for South Asian art, announces Crossing Borders: Modern Art from South Asia. Coinciding with an unprecedented institutional focus on South Asian art across London this year, from the Barbican to the Royal Academy, Serpentine Galleries, and Frieze Cork Street, Crossing Borders offers collectors and audiences a rare opportunity to experience and acquire significant works by artists who shaped Modernism across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. This landmark selling exhibition will be on view to the public from 10 to 31 July at Phillips Berkeley Square, London.

Crossing Borders explores how artists responded to the seismic shifts of independence, partition, and post-colonial realignment by developing new visual languages – rejecting colonial paradigms and embracing contemporary materials, ideologies, and forms. Highlighted artists include F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain, Bhupen Khakhar, Ram Kumar, Rasheed Araeen, A.R. Chughtai, Syed Sadequain, George Keyt, Lain Singh Bangdel, Balraj Khanna, Mohan Samant, Ismail Gulgee, and Velu Viswanadhan.

Yassaman Ali, Director of Middle East & South Asia Regions at Phillips, said, “The current celebration of South Asian art marks a significant cultural moment – one that Phillips is proud to celebrate and participate in. Crossing Borders honours a region whose artistic voices are finally receiving the global recognition they deserve, both institutionally and commercially. We are proud to partner with Grosvenor Gallery to present this captivating body of work. We wish for the exhibition to serve as a platform to engage and inspire a diverse group of international collectors, to explore and champion the artists pioneering the narrative of South Asian Modernism.”

Conor Macklin and Charles Moore, Grosvenor Gallery, said, “We are very happy to be partnering with Phillips on what’s shaping up to be a fantastic exhibition — the scale of the show has allowed us to be especially ambitious with our selection. We have worked hard to bring in fresh works by artists from across the region, and we hope the visual dialogue between the pieces will encourage viewers to engage with artists they may not have considered before. We’re also fortunate that the exhibition coincides with a number of remarkable institutional shows of South Asian material, and we hope ours adds meaningfully to this moment.”

A major highlight of Crossing Borders is Sans titre, painted in 2001 by Paris-based Indian artist Velu Viswanadhan (b. 1940), whose practice bridges Indian spiritual traditions and Western abstraction. His recent solo presentation at Sharjah Biennial 16: to carry, featured over 40 works spanning five decades. Viswanadhan’s visual language is rooted in the sacred geometry of yantras and mandalas, offering a contemplative counterpoint to the political and material explorations of his peers.

Formed in Bombay in 1947, the Progressive Artists’ Group catalysed a radical new direction for Indian art. Among its founders, Francis Newton Souza emerged as a singular force. His bold explorations of identity, religion, and colonial legacies earned him early international acclaim, including participation in the 1955 and 2024 Venice Biennales. With works held by Tate Britain and NGMA New Delhi, and record-breaking auction results in 2024–25, Souza’s relevance remains undeniable.

Maqbool Fida Husain 

Horses and Blue Sun, 1969

Courtesy of Phillips

Another key member, Maqbool Fida Husain (1915-2011), often called the “Picasso of India,” has seen a surge in market interest. In 2025, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art presented The Rooted Nomad: M.F. Husain at the Venice Biennale. His work is held in major collections including LACMA, the V&A, and KNMA, cementing his enduring influence. In 2025, his 1954 painting Gram Yatra set the auction record for South Asian art of $13.75 million.

Lancelot Ribeiro

The Search, 1967

Courtesy of Phillips

Lancelot Ribeiro (1933-2010), half-brother to F.N. Souza, is enjoying a resurgence as institutions and collectors rediscover his vibrant expressionist works. Though not a member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, Ribeiro’s practice was shaped by its ethos and by his close connection with Souza. His legacy bridges Indian and British modernism, with works in the collections of Tate Britain and the V&A.

Abdur Rahman Chughtai

Untitled (Mughal Princess), circa 1960

Courtesy of Phillips

From Pakistan, Abdur Rahman Chughtai (1897-1975) is one of the foundational figures of modern South Asian art, celebrated for his distinctive fusion of Mughal miniature styles with Art Deco and modernist influences. Featured prominently in the MANZAR exhibition at the National Museum of Qatar, Chughtai’s work has received renewed acclaim. In 2025, the 50th anniversary of his death was honoured with a commemorative postage stamp. His art is held in global institutions including the British Museum, the V&A, and the United Nations.

Syed Sadequain 

Three Figures, 1967

Courtesy of Phillips

Syed Sadequain (1930-1987), another leading modernist from Pakistan, is known for his striking fusion of calligraphy and figuration. His inclusion in the 2024 Venice Biennale’s Central Pavilion underscored his growing international recognition.

PHILLIPS

30 Berkeley Square, London W1J 6EX

www.phillips.com

The Making of Modern Korean Art: The Letters of Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan, and Park Seo-Bo, 1961–1982 @ Tina Kim Gallery, New York

The Making of Modern Korean Art 

The Letters of Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan, and Park Seo-Bo, 1961–1982

Tina Kim Gallery, New York

May 5 - June 21, 2025

Tina Kim Gallery presents The Making of Modern Korean Art: The Letters of Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan, and Park Seo-Bo, 1961–1982. Organized in conjunction with the launch of a landmark new publication of the same title, the exhibition brings to life the personal and intellectual exchanges between four pioneering artists who shaped the trajectory of modern Korean art during the transformative decades following the Korean War. Through the presentation of significant paintings made by all four artists during this period, as well as archival materials, photography, and ephemera, the exhibition will make manifest the artistic dialogues and debates that guided the global emergence of Korean modern art.

In the aftermath of the Korean War (1950–53), amid political upheaval and limited institutional support, Korean artists faced the urgent challenge of redefining their cultural landscape and articulating their collective trauma and existential dislocation. Many turned to abstraction as a means of forging a distinctly Korean modernity, one that resisted both Western ideologies and inherited aesthetic traditions. Among Korea’s earliest abstractionists, Kim Whanki evolved from semi-abstracted depictions of moon jars and plum blossoms to the sublime all-over dot paintings of his New York period, blending a Korean sensibility with global avant-garde influences. Park Seo-Bo and Kim Tschang-Yeul, deeply influenced by European Informel, produced early works characterized by thick impasto, raw surfaces, and material experimentation. This shared language laid the foundation for their later iconic series: Kim Tschang-Yeul turned to the meditative precision of his Waterdrop series, reflecting Taoist principles of ego dissolution; while Park Seo-Bo developed his Ecriture series, defined by its monochromatic palette and a rigorous focus on repetition, process, and discipline. Lee Ufan, initially a key figure in the Mono-ha movement in Japan, transitioned in the early 1970s to his From Point and From Line series, merging material restraint with philosophical inquiry in simple, deliberate brush strokes that evoke Eastern calligraphy. By the mid-1970s, each artist had developed a singular visual idiom: distinct yet unified by a shared ambition to advance Korean art on the global stage. Key works from these formative series will be featured in the forthcoming exhibition.

Though geographically dispersed, the four artists remained closely connected through a decades-long correspondence. In the absence of a robust cultural infrastructure in Korea, their letters became essential conduits for critical exchange, exhibition planning, and mutual support. Park Seo-Bo and Kim Tschang-Yeul, lifelong friends and collaborators, played a pivotal role in organizing the second Hyundae Fine Art Exhibition in 1957 and corresponded tirelessly to coordinate Korea’s participation in the 1961 Paris Biennale. Lee Ufan and Park Seo-Bo, who began exchanging letters after their joint inclusion in a 1968 group exhibition in Tokyo, became key mediators between the Korean and Japanese art scenes; and Kim Whanki, a generation older, served as a mentor figure, encouraging Kim Tschang-Yeul to apply for Rockefeller Fellowship funding that ultimately brought him to New York in 1965. From Seoul, Tokyo, Paris, and New York, the four artists exchanged ideas, critiques, and reflections on both the practical and philosophical challenges of working from the periphery of the global art world. Their letters not only offer an unprecedented window into their artistic development but also reveal a collective commitment to building a Korean modernism that could engage—on its own terms—with the broader narratives of postwar art.

The Making of Modern Korean Art foregrounds these correspondences—newly translated, previously unpublished, and reproduced at actual size—as critical primary documents in the story of Korean modernism. Published by Gregory R. Miller & Co., the book is co-edited by Yeon Shim Chung, Professor of Art History and Theory at Hongik University, and Doryun Chong, Artistic Director and Chief Curator of M+, Hong Kong, and features a contribution by Kyung An, Curator of Asian Art at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Beyond the letters, the volume marks a major contribution to the field as a comprehensive English-language survey of Korean abstraction, spanning the period from the birth of Korean Informel to the formation of Dansaekhwa.

TINA KIM GALLERY

525 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10011

tinakimgallery.com

Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo @ Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC+ Other venues

Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo

Pictures of Belonging

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

November 15 - August 17, 2025

Miki Hayakawa 

One Afternoon, ca. 1935

Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 in. 

New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, 

Gift of Preston McCrossen in memory 

of his wife, the artist, 1954, 520.23P

“Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo” is an unprecedented exploration of three trailblazing Japanese American artists of the mid-20th century who, until now, have been excluded from the story of modernism in the United States. The exhibition asserts their place in American art and reveals a broader picture of the American experience by presenting their artworks and life stories in dialogue with each other for the first time.

The exhibition is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s main building in Washington, D.C. The museum’s presentation is the second stop on a national tour, organized by the Japanese American National Museum with exhibition curator ShiPu Wang, Coats Family Chair in the Arts and professor of art history at the University of California, Merced. “Pictures of Belonging” is coordinated at the Smithsonian American Art Museum by Melissa Ho, curator of 20th-century art, with Anna Lee, curatorial assistant for Asian American art.

“The Smithsonian American Art Museum plays a leadership role in telling richer and deeper stories about art in the United States, featuring new voices and presenting a more inclusive narrative of American art through acquisition campaigns, reimagined permanent collection galleries, new scholarship and special exhibitions,” said Jane Carpenter-Rock, acting director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “I am delighted that SAAM is able to partner with the Japanese American National Museum to share with audiences in Washington, D.C., the incredible work of Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo.”

The exhibition highlights the paintings of Hayakawa, Hibi and Okubo, complemented by drawings, sketchbooks, archival material and video footage. The artworks span eight decades, revealing the range and depth of these three artists’ careers and connections that have not been explored previously. A visual timeline puts their life events in context with each other and with key moments in U.S. history. The prolific careers of Hayakawa, Hibi and Okubo are remarkable considering that they lived through the Exclusion Era (1882–1965), a period characterized by U.S. laws that restricted immigration, prevented Asians from becoming naturalized American citizens and contributed to the mass displacement and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Hayakawa, Hibi and Okubo were the three most visible and critically acclaimed Japanese American women artists in the United States in the 1930s. During World War II, all three were forced from their homes in California. The federal government imprisoned Hibi and Okubo in incarceration camps, first in California and then in Utah; Hayakawa relocated to New Mexico. Yet all three remained committed to making art, their creative work a vital means of navigating their experiences and building bonds of community.

By tracing the artistic development of Hayakawa, Hibi and Okubo before, during and after World War II, the exhibition offers the first nuanced and in-depth view of how each developed a distinct painting style. Hayakawa, who died young at age 53, displayed a special affinity for painting people early on and was known for her sensitive, luminous portraits. Hibi, over time, evolved from painting landscapes and still lifes to creating symbolically freighted canvases activated by abstract marks of color. Okubo, best known for her 1946 graphic memoir of wartime removal and incarceration, Citizen 13660, operated within the mainstream of American social realism in the 1930s, but turned to bold color, simplified forms and whimsical images of children and animals in later years. Collectively, their art, produced during tumultuous decades in U.S. history, carry powerful stories of resilience, beauty and connection.

“‘Pictures of Belonging’ demonstrates that the artists’ experience of mass incarceration and relocation during WWII, while pivotal, did not define them,” Ho said. “These women continued to evolve and challenge themselves as artists throughout their lives.”

The exhibition includes works by Hibi and Okubo recently acquired for Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection, part of a multi-year initiative to expand and enrich the representation of Asian American experiences, perspectives and artistic accomplishment in public displays and new scholarship.

National Tour

The exhibition opened at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City. Following the presentation in Washington, D.C., it will travel to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia; the Monterey Museum of Art in Monterey, California; and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

“Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo” is organized by the Japanese American National Museum.

Publication

The accompanying catalog, co-published by the Japanese American National Museum and the University of California Press, includes essays by Ho; Wang; Becky Alexander, archivist at the San Francisco Art Institute Legacy Foundation + Archive; Rihoko Ueno, archivist at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art; Patricia Wakida, associate editor of the Densho Encyclopedia project and a contributing editor to the Discover Nikkei website; and Cécile Whiting, professor emerita and Chancellor’s Professor of Art History at the University of California, Irvine. The book is available for purchase ($50) in the museum’s store and online.

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM - SAAM

8th and G Streets, NW, Washington, DC 2000

americanart.si.edu

Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan @ MFAH, Houston

Meiji Modern 

Fifty Years of New Japan 

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

July 7 – September 15, 2024

Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912) was a period of unprecedented cultural and technological transition. Over these remarkable decades, the country experienced radical social and political shifts, which propelled the historically inward-facing society into a new modern, global era. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents a fresh look at the art of this transformative era with the landmark exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan.

Following over two centuries of near-total isolation, the archipelago of Japan was thrown into chaos with the arrival of the American Commodore Perry in 1853; following a series of international trade agreements, the feudal fiefdoms of Japan were transformed into a modern nation-state, with the Emperor “restored” to the throne. Through more than 150 extraordinary objects borrowed from over 70 public and private collections, the exhibition reveals the profound cross-cultural impact of the country’s developing relationships with the wider world.

Paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and fine examples of enamel, lacquer, embroidery, and textiles all evidence a blending of cultures and techniques and the innovative interchange of old and new. Uniquely, the exhibition features a diverse selection of both export wares and items made for display in Japan, reflecting the diversity of tastes and aesthetic discourse in the Meiji period. The exhibition also features several recently discovered masterpieces of Japanese art, many of which have never been shown publicly.

Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan is organized into five thematic sections that reveal the varied cross-cultural influences on Japanese history and identity over the course of the Meiji period.

• Crafting a Modern State highlights the emergence of a country opening up to the outside world through prints, and other objects depicting Western scenes and motifs. Depictions of Meiji rulers in Western clothing and portrayals of American dignitaries in Japanese clothing underscore these new international connections. This also illustrates the importance of art and artwork both as industry and as a tool of diplomacy to the fledgling Meiji state.

• Navigating Changing Seas demonstrates the continued cultural importance of the sea in Japanese art, conveying its role in bringing the outside world to Japan, and bringing Japan to the outside world. A massive bronze masterpiece, nearly life size, of the Dragon King of Sea presenting a warrior with a magical tide-controlling jewel, the most significant piece of Meiji Period metalwork in the United States, is one of the highlights of this section.

• Fashioning the Self assesses the emergence of a new Japanese identity as a non-white, modern nation-state, and considers the changing gender roles of the period, the end of samurai status, the creation of a Meiji bureaucracy, and the growing embrace of modern conveniences as seen in clothing items and prints such as Telephone Call: A Merchant’s Wife. This section also highlights the unprecedented new social freedom enjoyed by women, using a series of woodblock printed illustrations from women’s magazines, a new genre that emerged during the period as women in Japan achieved widespread literacy for the first time. Another highlight of this section is a bowler hat by Hayakawa Shōkōsai I, woven entirely out bamboo reeds.

• Making History, Enshrining Myth examines the importance of a national religion, traditions, and myths to the formation of a modern nation-state, and considers how a self-conscious reinterpretation and re-articulation of the past helped inform a contemporary nation and its global future through unique new expressions. Crucially, this section also considers the role of China and the appreciation of Chinese art and culture during the Meiji Period and includes a rare and important two-sided painted screen by Noguchi Shōhin, one of the few female painters of the Meiji Period.

• Cultivating a Modern Aesthetic shows the traditional themes of plants and animals as the motifs and subject matter most eagerly embraced by foreigners, and therefore commonly made for export. Such artistic production translated to diplomatic soft power as well as a lucrative way to fund industry. It also fueled Western expectations for and definitions of “Asian tradition,” setting precedents for cultural and geopolitical relations and tensions that continue to unfold in the global arena today. This section features several important painted screens that have not been shown publicly for over 100 years and an imposing but beautiful ceramic painted made by Itaya Hazan, the father of Japanese studio ceramics. This vessel, the only known work by the artist in North America and one of only a handful outside of Japan, was acquired directly from the artist by Henry Walters in 1915, and is one of many such works in the exhibition that were purchased during the Meiji Period as contemporary art, highlighting Japan’s importance and might on the world stage by the end of these tumultuous five decades of new Japan.

Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan has been organized by the Japanese Art Society of America. The exhibition is co-curated by Bradley Bailey, the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Curator of Asian Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Chelsea Foxwell, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Chicago. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly catalogue with essays and entries, published by Yale University Press.

Meiji Modern

Fifty Years of New Japan

by Chelsea Foxwell and Bradley M. Bailey

Published by Yale University Press, 2023

272 Pages, 11.30 x 9.25 in, 275 color illustrations

Gary Tinterow, Director and Margaret Alkek Williams Chair at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, noted, “Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan provides a fascinating window onto this transformative era, a collision of culture and identity that forged newly modern approaches to esthetics, trade and statehood in Japan. It also shows to great effect the unprecedented achievements of Japanese artisans and artists, culminating centuries of technical perfection. We are pleased to partner with Japanese Art Society of America, on their 50th anniversary, to bring this unprecedented exhibition to the MFAH.”

“Late-19th-century Japan represents an early and compelling chapter in the history of global modern art, as Japan became one of the first non-Western nations seeking to repel colonization by making the case for the integrity of its art and culture,” commented Bradley Bailey. “While seemingly opposed, these two ambitions intertwined to produce a distinct form of expression that helped to define Japan’s classical past as well as its global future.” 

Previous Venues:

Asia Society, New York, October 3, 2023 – January 7, 2024

Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, March 21 – June 9, 2024

MFAH - MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS / HOUSTON

1001 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas 77005

www.mfah.org

Marc Chagall @ Christie's Hong Kong Auction - Marc Chagall, Colour of Life: Works Formerly from the Artist’s Estate (Part 2)

Marc Chagall, Colour of Life: Works Formerly from the Artist’s Estate (Part 2)

Christie's Hong Kong Auction

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre 

Public Preview: 26 – 30 November 2022

Standalone Day Sale: 1 December 2022

On 1 December, Christie’s will present ‘Marc Chagall, Colour of Life: Works Formerly from the Artist’s Estate (Part 2)’, a dedicated auction presenting a superb selection of 20 works by modernist master Marc Chagall, one of the most eminent European artists of the 20th century. Originating from the artist’s estate, the works have never been offered for sale before. This is the second in a series of global sales dedicated to Chagall, the first of which took place in London in June and was 100% sold, achieving 194% of the pre-sale low estimate.

Throughout his prolific artistic career, Marc Chagall was captivated by a number of themes and motifs which he depicted in multiple guises, constantly developing new and innovative techniques and approaches that enriched his iconic idiosyncratic style. This collection of 20 works encompasses key strands from Chagall’s oeuvre, including: the profound strength of love; the emotional and spiritual connection with his homeland; the joy and beauty of nature; the nurturing artistic richness of Paris; and, art as a means of exploring personal and collective identities.

Marc Chagall: Poetry of Love

‘In life, just as on the artist’s palette, there is but one single colour that gives meaning to life and art,’ Marc Chagall proclaimed, ‘– the colour of love’ (quoted in N. Lynton, ‘Chagall “over the Roofs of the World”,’ in S. Compton, ed., Chagall, exh. cat., Philadelphia, 1985, p. 21). From his youth through to his final golden years, love in all its multifaceted brilliance remained a principal driving force in Marc Chagall’s oeuvre, a constant and ever-evolving source of inspiration that underpinned his creativity and fed his most celebrated compositions. Masterfully subliming his personal experiences into universal values, the artist conjured rich, evocative visions that spoke to the many different sides of the emotion and its enduring power. While the subject of love continued to be central in Chagall’s art, its form shifted and changed in a manner that reflected the evolution of his own relationships, offering deep, profound statements on the nature of love and the authenticity of human values.

Marc Chagall: The Song of Vitebsk

‘Why do I always paint Vitebsk? With these pictures I create my own reality for myself, I recreate my home’ (quoted in S. Compton, Chagall: Love and the Stage 1914-1922, exh. cat., London, 1998, p. 16). Among the most enduring of Marc Chagall’s subjects was the play of life within the town of Vitebsk, where he was born and spent his youth. Often a symbol referring to the artist’s source of personal strength, it was here that the artist discovered his passion for art, referring to the town as ‘the soil that nourished the roots of my art’ (Chagall, quoted in J. Baal-Teshuva, Marc Chagall 1887-1985, Cologne, 1998, p. 19). In many of his compositions, the distinctive architecture of Vitebsk appears as the setting for an array of fantastical, semi-autobiographical scenes, while the rituals that governed life in the town became an important and recurring source of inspiration. In other works, the distinctive rooftops and orthodox churches of Vitebsk harmoniously coexist with the skyline of Paris or the hilltop of Vence within the same pictorial space.

Marc Chagall: The Joy of Nature

I want an art of the earth and not merely an art of the head,’ (Marc Chagall, quoted in F. Meyer, Marc Chagall, Life and Work, London, 1964, p. 337). Chagall had first introduced floral still-lifes in his painting in the 1908s. After returning with his family to Paris from his native Russia in 1923, the couple and their daughter frequently travelled around France, relishing the natural beauty of the land and fulfilling his need to understand the profound spirit of the French soil. From this time onwards, large, effusive bouquets of freshly-cut flowers and foliage, at the very height of their fleeting beauty took a greater prominence in Chagall’s work. The study of these grand bouquets served both as an exercise in modelling colour and light, and as a symbol of love and a profound respect for nature. In works such as Vava aux arums the lilies tower over Vava like a blossoming tree; giving the impression of being rooted in the landscape and thus creating an intentional confusion between the interior and exterior spaces – a duality, which like past and present, imaginary and real, up and down, is not restricted by the conventionality of the world which surrounds us but rather freed from logic and revitalised by imagination.

Marc Chagall: The Eternal Inspiration of Paris

‘I seemed to be discovering light, colour, freedom, the sun, the joy of living, for the first time. […] In Paris, I at last saw in a vision the kind of art I wanted to create’ (Marc Chagall, quoted in E. Roditi, Dialogues: Conversations with Artists in the Mid-Century, San Francisco, 1990, p. 20). The first Paris period of 1911-14 was formative and liberating for Chagall; a synthesis of artistic developments from his native Russia with the new impetus of the Fauve, Cubist and Old Master pictures of the Paris art world in which he was now immersed. Chagall, his wife Bella and daughter Ida, made their home in Paris for much of the 1920s and 1930s. Marc Chagall chose to live in France because as he put it: ‘I always felt that France is my real home because only in France and especially in Paris, do I feel truly free as a painter of light and colour. (quoted in E. Roditi, Dialogues: Conversations with Artists in the Mid-Century, San Francisco, 1990, p. 20). After a decade of wartime exile in New York, and following the untimely death of Bella, Chagall returned a deeply changed man, to the sanctuary of Paris, living first in Orgeval, a village in the impressionist heartland, before moving to Vence and thereafter dividing his time between the Côte d’Azur and the City of Lights. Paris remained an eternal inspiration for Chagall, whose paintings often depict its landmarks, including Notre-Dame, the Eiffel Tower and the Garnier Opéra, for which he was commissioned in 1960 to conceive and realize a monumental ceiling painting of 220 m2 , the first of its kind dedicated to an historical building in France. 

Marc Chagall: My Art, My life

Over the course of his long artistic career, Chagall painted a large number of self-portraits, each composition providing a revealing insight into his developing sense of artistic and personal identity at important junctures in his life, reflecting the ways in which he wished to be seen by the wider world. While in many examples, Chagall presents himself in the quintessential pose of an artist – positioned in front of his easel, with his palette on his lap and his brushes conjoined to his hand – in others, the artist adopts the guise of fantastical characters or hybrid creatures, which revealed different aspects of his personality and energy. With these self-portraits, Chagall outlined the key events, moments, experiences and elements that had shaped him as a human and an artist, revealing the many layers of personal history which underpinned his sense of the world.

Michelle McMullan, Senior Specialist, Impressionist and Modern Art, London: “Christie’s are delighted to be presenting the second part of our series of international sales dedicated to Marc Chagall in Hong Kong this November. A master of 20th century European modernism, Chagall’s unique artistic trajectory offers motifs for life’s many facets and complexities that are both personal to the artist and universal to us all. The works that comprise ‘Marc Chagall, Colour of Life: Works Formerly from the Artist’s Estate, (Part 2)’ demonstrate in particular the experimental techniques of the artist’s later works, revealing the constant innovation that underpinned his easel painting, as he explored new media and responded to the latest artistic trends that were sweeping the avant-garde.” 

Tan Bo, Senior Vice President, International Director, Impressionist & Modern Art, Christie’s Beijing: “It is an honour for Christie’s to be entrusted with this in-depth body of work originating formerly from the Chagall Estate, which offers an insight into the creative mind of one of the 20th century’s foremost artistic visionaries. Given the strong participation from bidders in Asia and the phenomenal results achieved in the first part of this sale series in London earlier this year, we are very excited to be offering another outstanding selection of Chagall works in our Hong Kong Autumn sales. With oil paintings and works on paper presented across a broad range of price points, this is an unprecedented opportunity for collectors in the region to own an iconic work by the artist that has never come to the market before.”

Public Preview: Hong Kong | 26 – 30 November | Convention Hall, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No.1 Harbour Road, Wanchai

Live Auction: Hong Kong | 1 December | Convention Hall, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No.1 Harbour Road, Wanchai

Address: Hall 3D, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No.1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

CHRISTIE'S

www.christies.com

____________

Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism @ Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach - From the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection

Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection 

Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach

October 23, 2021 - February 6, 2022

The Norton Museum of Art presents Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Featuring over 150 works, including paintings and works on paper collected by Jacques and Natasha Gelman alongside photographs and period clothing, the exhibition includes the largest group of works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera ever on view at the institution. Presenting these artists’ creative pursuits in the broader context of the art created during the renaissance following the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1920, the exhibition also includes work by Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, Miguel Covarrubias, Gunther Gerzso, María Izquierdo, Carlos Mérida, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Juan Soriano, and Rufino Tamayo. It explores these artists’ distinctive interpretations of modernism as expressed in themes of nature, home, and family in photographs and easel and large-scale mural paintings.

Jacques Gelman and his wife Natasha built strong relationships with leading figures of the artistic movement that had arisen after the Mexican Revolution. The Gelman Collection consists primarily of works the couple acquired from modernist friends in this period. Jacques Gelman was a film producer during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the mid-twentieth century and he and his wife’s close bonds with Mexico’s creative community are underscored by the numerous portraits of them made by friends featured in the exhibition.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are among the most influential figures of Mexican art in this period, known for their creative synergy with each other along with their personal relationship. Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism emphasizes the connections between Kahlo, Rivera, and their contemporaries’ collective experimentation with modernism. Featuring 22 paintings and works on paper by Frida Kahlo and 18 paintings, works on paper, and aquatints by Diego Rivera, the exhibition addresses the artists’ private experience with each other and situates their work in the larger history of modernism in Mexico, a narrative enhanced with portraits and photographs of the couple by artist friends and peers. Sections of the exhibition address the resonance and exchange of influence evident in the two artists’ work, along with Frida Kahlo’s struggles with lifelong chronic pain induced by a childhood battle with polio, and a bus accident that shattered her pelvis and spine at 18 years old.

Tracing the influence of Mexicanidad, the belief that Mexicans could create an authentic modernism by exploring the country’s indigenous culture, the exhibition reveals the centrality of this idea to Kahlo’s iconography, manifested as a distinctive brand of magical realism colored by Mexican folk art. Even her adoption of traditional Tehuana clothing reflected Frida Kahlo’s desire to establish a connection with ancestral Mexico while expressing a cross-cultural identity that honored her heritage and status as a modern woman. A selection of period vintage dresses sourced in Mexico, which include colorful embroidered blouses and full skirts, is on view in the exhibition, enriching the presentation’s examination of her art in the context of her life and persona.

“This exhibition offers viewers the opportunity to see beloved works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in-person and experience the physical impact of their creative vision,” said Ellen E. Roberts, Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Curator of American Art. “The scope of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism returns major works of Mexican Modernism to the context in which they were produced—in a collaborative artistic community seeking to make an authentically Mexican modern art by exploring and embracing shared roots and folkloric traditions. It will be especially exciting to have the exhibition on view at the Norton, since these works have such resonance with the masterpieces of American and European modernism in the museum’s collection.”

Notable works in the exhibition include:

• Juan Soriano, Girl with Still Life, 1939 – Juan Soriano first encountered Kahlo at the age of fifteen, not long after he moved to Mexico City from Guadalajara. His early works are often subtle and dream-like, utilizing a personal visual language that owes much to Kahlo’s own metaphorical narratives. In the late 1930s Soriano painted a number of images of children holding and contemplating objects, their meaning often mysterious. They evoke the unique ways in which children perceive objects and the world around them, often uninhibited by established ideas of utility or beauty.

• Nickolas Muray, Frida Kahlo on Bench #5, 1939 – This photograph was taken in the New York studio of the photographer Nickolas Muray, who photographed celebrities across the world for magazines like Vanity Fair and Vogue. Nickolas Muray and Frida Kahlo met in 1931 and embarked on a volatile romantic relationship that lasted nearly a decade. Nickolas Muray’s photographs of Frida Kahlo are among the most well-known images of her, capturing the artist’s confidence and poise in vivid color. Nickolas Muray was also a supporter of Frida Kahlo’s work, purchasing her painting What the Water Gave Me (1938) from her exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in 1938.

• Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Monkeys, 1943 – Flora and fauna feature prominently in Frida Kahlo’s paintings, often representing larger themes within her work. In this painting Frida Kahlo is surrounded by four monkeys, which she was kept as pets in Coyoacán. Frequently described as surrogates for her maternal energies, the monkeys in this work may allude to Kahlo’s new role as a mentor as she began teaching at La Esmeralda, the Ministry of Public Education’s art school, the previous year. When her declining health stopped her from teaching, she invited students to meet at her home, forming a small group of four regulars who became known as “Los Fridos.”

• Diego Rivera, Calla Lily Vendor, 1943 – In murals, easel paintings, and watercolors made throughout his career, Diego Rivera represented the everyday lives of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Among his most iconic subjects were calla lily sellers, the earliest of which he painted in 1925. In this version the jubilant bundle of calla lilies dominates the canvas, largely obscuring a figure behind them who appears to be adding more to the basket. The two women in the foreground wear traditional fringed shawls, the one on the left pulling a length of fabric around the basket that will be used to tie it to one of their backs.

• María Izquierdo, Bride from Papantla (Portrait of Rosalba Portes Gil), 1944 – This colorful portrait depicts a young bride from Papantla, a region in the state of Veracruz. Brides there traditionally wear a white covering over their back called a quexquémitl, as well as a long white veil and floral headdress. Maria Izquierdo’s interest in representing Mexico’s diverse clothing traditions in her work, as well as wearing them herself, mirrors Kahlo’s own practice. Both were part of a larger trend of wearing traditional costumes that became prevalent in the decades following the Mexican Revolution and was a means of paying homage to the country’s native cultures while also supporting the new emerging identity of the nation.

Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism is organized by the Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL). It is curated by the Vergel Foundation curator, Magda Carranza de Akle, and for the Norton by Ellen E. Roberts, Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Curator of American Art.

A companion exhibition titled Frida and Me, curated by Assistant Curator Rachel Gustafson, presents a selection of works that respond to and are inspired by Frida Kahlo’s works and practice.

NORTON MUSEUM OF ART

1450 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33401

norton.org

_____________

Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer @ MFAH, Houston + other venues

Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer 

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 

October 17, 2021 - January 17, 2022 

Todd Webb, Georgia O’Keeffe with Camera, 1959

Printed later, inkjet print, Todd Webb Archive

© Todd Webb Archive, Portland, Maine, USA

Georgia O’Keeffe is a groundbreaking figure of American Modernism, widely recognized for her paintings of New York skyscrapers, radical depictions of flowers, and stark landscapes of the American southwest. Less known is that she quietly honed a photography practice just as distinct as, yet complementary to, her paintings and drawings.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents the first exhibition devoted to O’Keeffe’s photographic practice with the debut of Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer. Organized in partnership with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, the exhibition reveals the wider scope of the artist’s career through some 90 photographs from a previously unstudied archive—a discovery led by MFAH associate curator of photography Lisa Volpe. Photographs in the exhibition are complemented by 17 paintings and drawings of landscapes, flowers, and still lifes from public and private collections across the USA.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer is on view in the Upper Brown Pavilion of the MFAH Caroline Wiess Law Building, before travelling to the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; the Denver Art Museum; and the Cincinnati Art Museum. 

“Georgia O’Keeffe has long been the subject of exhibitions, portraiture, and volumes of scholarship. She captivated the art world with her works on paper and canvas, yet her photography has never been studied or known despite being essential to her practice,” said Gary Tinterow, Director, the Margaret Alek Williams Chair, MFAH. “We are pleased to present this revelatory exhibition and expand appreciation of one of the most innovative and expressive artists our culture has produced.”

While Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) forged a career as one of the most significant painters of the 20th century, she also had a lifelong connection to photography. Captured on film throughout her life—in early family photos, travel snapshots, and portraits by a cavalcade of photographic artists including her husband, Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946)—O’Keeffe was no stranger to the medium. She expressed her unique perspective through all aspects of her life, and by the time she began her photographic practice in the mid-1950s, her singular identity and artistry were well developed. 

Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer is the culmination of three years of research led by Volpe, who analyzed hundreds of works in different collections and identified more than 400 photographic images by O’Keeffe. Volpe attributed, dated, and catalogued the photographs by examining small details in the images and analyzing the artist’s distinct style.

“In her 1976 book, O’Keeffe mentions her use of photography. Yet her mastery of painting stymied any research into this area for decades. It was a part of her artistic practice waiting to be examined,” Volpe said. “This exhibition reveals the ways in which she used photography as part of her unique and encompassing artistic vision. She claimed the medium for herself and her own artistic use—a radical act late in her career that begs for continued scholarship.”

The exhibition is organized around key tenets of O’Keeffe’s photographic approach: reframing, the rendering of light, and seasonal change.

Reframing views through the lens of her camera, Georgia O’Keeffe saw her environment as an array of possible shapes and forms. Moving from right to left, angling the camera from high to low, or turning it vertically and horizontally, she composed and recomposed her photographs to find harmonious compositions. Prints from Georgia O’Keeffe’s serial captures of the Natural Stone Arch near Leho’ula Beach, ’Aleamai, Hawaii are a highlight, demonstrating the artist’s intuitive search for the ideal relationship of expressive forms.

On paper, canvas, or in a photograph, dappled light and dark shadows are not merely fleeting effects for Georgia O’Keeffe. They provide weighty and essential forms. Sensitive to this formal potential, the artist often photographed the same view throughout the day to create varying compositions. A striking example is Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1964 Forbidding Canyon, a series of five Polaroids that capture changing light between two rock faces. Photographs of her beloved Chow Chows also express such possibilities, contrasting dark dog fur against the sun-washed landscape to find the tension between depth, flatness, realism, and abstraction.

Georgia O’Keeffe also explored seasonal changes by photographing her environment of evolving foliage and light year-round. Her photographs of the Chama River and a kiva ladder in her New Mexico home capture changes in vegetation, precipitation, and sunlight. Similarly, Georgia O’Keeffe regularly photographed the jimsonweed around her home, watching as the trumpet-like flowers obeyed both the cycle of the seasons and a shorter daily cycle, opening in the afternoon and closing with sunrise, from late summer until first frost. Georgia O’Keeffe’s jimsonweed prints signal the artist’s ongoing fascination with the transformations of nature.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON

1001 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas 77005

www.mfah.org