“I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers,” vowed Georgia O’Keeffe in the exhibition catalog for the 1944 show An American Place. Eighty years later, O’Keeffe’s work has returned to the East Coast. This time, her Southwestern abstractions are in Massachusetts and presented with companions.
Running at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) through Jan. 20, 2025, “Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore” breaks new ground by pairing the American modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe with the renowned English sculptor Henry Moore. The exhibition’s juxtaposition of over 150 works reveals unexpected parallels between these seemingly contrasting artists, offering new perspectives through the galleries’ thoughtfully planned spatial and thematic arrangements.
Descending beneath the vaulted museum café, the vermillion hues of the wall immediately contrast the space with the cold weather outside. The exhibition welcomes the visitor with prominent portrait photos of the main subjects, visually likening the two by setting both in their studios, O’Keeffe is surrounded by nature in New Mexico and Moore in England.
The galleries expose visitors to Moore’s metal sculptures and O’Keeffe’s descriptions of nature with an audio guide that highlights the connections between the artists’ common approaches to form and space, despite their lack of a professional relationship. Contrary to the show’s official title, O’Keeffe and Moore are not the only ones presented. The exhibition also highlights works from modern artists such as O’Keeffe’s husband Alfred Stieglitz and the eminent American photographer Edward Weston.
Visitor Carolyn Lattin said that the inclusion of these other artists was a positive choice that provoked new thoughts for her.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to know O’Keeffe better, and I feel like the photography by Stieglitz and Weston brings an interesting other dimension to the sculpture and the paintings. I had no idea O’Keeffe also sculpted and took photos,” Lattin said.
Beginning as a touring exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art, “Georgia O’Keefe and Henry Moore” has been across North America before arriving at the MFA for its 4th and final stop. However, the museum explains that several curators and exhibition designers were involved in significant work to select and lay out works for the exhibition.
“We grouped things together by theme, by shape and by rhythm. Our installation is unique in that we added 44 additional works that draw upon the strength of the museum’s modernist collection to put O’Keeffe and Moore in dialogue with other mid-20th century artists active in the U.S. and in Europe,” the MFA said in a statement to the Cypress.
Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the MFA, Courtney Harris, recognizes that for teenagers and young people, museum exhibitions can often seem unwelcoming and not come to mind as a place to go. But, she still hopes youth from around the Boston area will find value in coming.
“I think that it’s a pretty universal theme, that you can find art in the world around you,” Harris said. “It is such a visual show. So if you’re someone who’s willing to come and take the time to look and see what we saw, I think you will be rewarded.”
