Presenting

WOMEN IN HISTORY his eventual divorce (and marriage to Georgia in 1924). e subsequent photography ex hibitions met with widespread critical acclaim, but only fueled the reading of Georgia's own creations as sexual in nature. Georgia's body of work depicting skyscrapers, produced between the years 1925 and 1929, is thought to have been a direct response to the dogged characterization of her paintings as Freudian, and her desire to shake that label. What could be bolder or more masculine than the burgeoning New York City skyline? She turned her gaze on the monstrous buildings and gri y streetscapes around her in an aempt to distance herself and her artistr y from the floral images with which she'd become so intertwined. She pursued this line of think ing against Stieglitz's wishes and professional advice. A ga in, she adopted a k ind of photog rapher's gaze w ith these sk yscraper depictions. Elements of developed prints—such as f lare and sunspots— emerge in th is series of pa intings capt uring her v iew f rom the Man hattan apar tment she shared w ith Stiegl itz , as wel l as the perspective perceived f rom the g round by pedestrians gawk ing at the behemoths loom ing above them. Over the years, the married couple spent more and more time apart. Georgia whiled away the weeks alone with further exploration of her art; Stieglitz did the same. He also took advantage of her absences to turn his aention to another young woman—40 years his junior. (Georgia herself was 23 years younger than he…causing a terrible scandal at the time their affair was made public.) is woman was Dorothy Norman, whom he met in 1927 and remained in the picture until his death in 1946. Some say the revelation of this straying precipitated Georgia's ner vous breakdown and subsequent retreat to New Mex ico. Whatever the catalyst for the trip, it was a turning point in her career and her life. Georgia had visited Santa Fe years earlier with her sister, and had been transfi xed by the beauty and color of the place. So when art patron Mabel Dodge in 1929 sent an invitation to visit her artists' compound in Taos, she eagerly accepted. ere, she entered the next phase of her career and, according to some, her most profound. Above: Georgia O'Keeffe, Lake George, 1918, photograph by Alfred Stieglitz. Alfred and Georgia. Left: Georgia's "Ram's Head, White Hollyhock - Hills" and "Oriental Poppies." Right: "Red, Yellow and Black Streak." Continued on page 70 Georgia bristled at the label "female artist." She considered herself simply an artist. 68 | GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com

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