Georgia O'Keeffe - Sky Above Clouds IV

[Kat]

The Art Institute of Chicago

Sky Above Clouds IV, 1965

Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887–1986)

Oil on canvas; 8 x 24 ft

"Among the most dramatic and well-known images of O'Keeffe's later years are her cloudscapes of the 1960s and '70s. Traveling around the world, she was exhilarated by the views seen from an airplane window. She described the changing patterns and colors as "breathtaking" and was moved to interpret these sights and feelings in paint. At first she painted contemplative pictures that showed the sky covered with a blanket of solid white clouds; later, a series of lively canvases filled with puffy white clouds and blue sky that stretch to infinity. O'Keeffe's Sky Above Clouds IV of 1965 was the most ambitious work in the series, and realized her long-time ambition to create a huge mural-size painting."

There was a little talk going on about Georgia O'Keeffe so I decided to share one of my favorite paintings. This painting is awesome! It is huge and is at the Art Institute of Chicago in a very bright stairway under skylights. This little web image certainly does not do it justice. The painting is 24 feet wide by 8 feet high and if you get a chance to go to the Art Institute, it is definitely worth a look. It seems so simple, and it just makes me smile. It brings me a childlike joy that few works can match. Inky used to have a print of this in her room when she was a little girl and she loved it. As Inky would say, "It makes me HAPPY!!"

Kat

[Robert Jones]

The Art Institute of Chicago

Sky Above Clouds IV, 1965

Georgia O'Keeffe (American, 1887–1986)

Oil on canvas; 8 x 24 ft

"Among the most dramatic and well-known images of O'Keeffe's later years are her cloudscapes of the 1960s and '70s. Traveling around the world, she was exhilarated by the views seen from an airplane window. She described the changing patterns and colors as "breathtaking" and was moved to interpret these sights and feelings in paint. At first she painted contemplative pictures that showed the sky covered with a blanket of solid white clouds; later, a series of lively canvases filled with puffy white clouds and blue sky that stretch to infinity. O'Keeffe's Sky Above Clouds IV of 1965 was the most ambitious work in the series, and realized her long-time ambition to create a huge mural-size painting."

There was a little talk going on about Georgia O'Keeffe so I decided to share one of my favorite paintings. This painting is awesome! It is huge and is at the Art Institute of Chicago in a very bright stairway under skylights. This little web image certainly does not do it justice. The painting is 24 feet wide by 8 feet high and if you get a chance to go to the Art Institute, it is definitely worth a look. It seems so simple, and it just makes me smile. It brings me a childlike joy that few works can match. Inky used to have a print of this in her room when she was a little girl and she loved it. As Inky would say, "It makes me HAPPY!!"

Kat

As a photographer, none of my influences in color photography are photographers. Most are painters, and O'Keeffe is one of them (along with Edward Hopper and Karin Kneffel).

[Victor Pross]

The painting looks like a series of ice blocks afloat cold water, and the perspective is there as you can see them fade off into the horizontal point. What else would a Canadian artist see but ice and cold? But the white and blue colors hint at that, too. I like this painting, too. It’s serene and tranquil.