O'Keeffe's Desert Studio

About

Born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Father Francis was a dairy farmer. Mother Ida was Hungarian-Irish and wanted her daughters educated. I decided at age twelve that I would be an artist. I went to art school. Then I stopped painting for four years because every teacher taught me to paint like a man. In 1915, I locked my door, spread charcoal on paper, and drew what I felt instead of what I saw. Alfred Stieglitz exhibited those drawings without my permission. I went to New York to tell him off. I married him instead. I painted flowers so large people had to look at them. 'Nobody sees a flower -- really -- it is so small -- we haven't time.' I made time. I went to New Mexico and found my country. Skulls, mesas, red earth, sky. I painted there until I was 98. I outlived everyone who doubted me.

Skills

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