Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe

Paper Summary:

This paper compares and contrasts Frida Kahlo's exhibition: "Five Fridas" at the Bass Museum of Art and "Circling Around Abstraction" by Georgia O'Keefe. It attempts to show how a comparison of the works examined in these two exhibitions reveal a feminist iconography that uses vegetation and flowers to exude the beauty of female genitalia. It also discusses how these feminist iconographic images do not always coincide equally by the two artists, as Kahlo provides a contrasting dimension of Mexican nationalism and sensuality in her feminist approach in relation to O'Keefe.

From the Paper:

"The exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art entitled "Circling Around Abstraction" by Georgia O'Keefe provides a variety of different vegetative or flowery representations through abstract stylization. One example of this is found within the work: Grey Blue & Black--Pink Circle (1929) where O'Keefe provides what appears to be a flower with its interior pistils and stamens extending into where horticulturists define the ovary at its center. This entry point of the flower was often depicted in O'Keefe's paintings, especially due to the nature of the flowers seemingly similar reproductive organs in relation to the human female (Hoffman 45). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Georgia O'Keefe: Circling Around Abstraction." 2007. Norton Museum of Art. 15 April, 2007. <http://www.norton.org/exhibitions/okeeffe.htm>
• Herrera, Hayden. Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002.
• Hinson, Erin. Georgia O'Keefe: Societal and Personal Interpretation. 2007. Colorado College. 15 April, 2007. <http://studentwebs.coloradocollege.edu/~e_hinson/>
• Hoffman, Katherine. An Enduring Spirit: The Art of Georgia O'Keefe. Chicago: Scarecrow Press, 1984.
• Kahlo, Frida. "Still Life with Parrot and Flag." 2006. City Review.com. 15 April, 2007. <http://www.thecityreview.com/s01clatb.jpg>

More papers on Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe:

• Comparison Essay # 133200 : "Feminist Iconography in Kahlo's and O'Keefe's Works"
• Essay # 138248 : "History, Bias and Opinion in Georgia O’Keefe’s Flower Paintings "
• Analytical Essay # 114927 : "Georgia O'Keefe's Artwork"

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