O’Keeffe’s ‘Abstraction’ sculpture finds temporary Santa Fe home
New Mexico Museum of Art to showcase the work in the O’Shaughnessy Sculpture Garden
Visitors to Santa Fe will continue to see Georgia O’Keeffe’s largest sculpture, thanks to a partnership between the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and New Mexico Museum of Art.
While the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum prepares for the construction of a reimagined campus, this partnership has provided a temporary home for “Abstraction,” a 9-foot-tall cast aluminum sculpture by O’Keeffe, in the New Mexico Museum of Art’s O’Shaughnessy Sculpture Garden.
“The New Mexico Museum of Art has long had O’Keeffe works on their walls and we are so thankful to them for providing ‘Abstraction’ a temporary home,” said Cody Hartley, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum director. “While we begin to build our new campus, we are very fortunate to have great community partners like the Museum of Art that will keep ‘Abstraction’ on display and out of storage for all who want to enjoy its beauty and presence.”
“Abstraction,” designed in 1946 and cast from 19791980, has most recently been on display in the garden of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center at the Otero-Bergere House in downtown Santa Fe.
Previously, it had been displayed at O’Keeffe’s home and studio in Abiquiú, and in the patio of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Once the new O’Keeffe is complete in 2026, the sculpture will be moved to a permanent spot.
“Abstraction” is one of 12 sculptures in the O’Shaughnessy Sculpture Garden, located at 107 W. Palace Ave. in Santa Fe, just blocks from the research center at the Otero-Bergere House.
Other sculptures on display include Bill Barrett’s “Hugging,” 1981; Richard Beckman’s “Black Heart II,” n.d.; and Bruno Romeda’s “Untitled Circle,” 2003.
“It’s no secret that many come to Santa Fe to see O’Keeffe’s work,” said Mark White, New Mexico Museum of Art director. “The paintings in our collection are among her most iconic works of New Mexican landscapes, and the sculpture is a wonderful addition for our visitors to see.”
O’Keeffe designed three series of sculptures over the span of her 60-year career. The spiral form was inspired by a ram’s horn the artist collected, which is on display in the “Georgia O’Keeffe: Making a Life exhibition,” on view through 2024. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 217 Johnson St., will remain open to visitors during construction of the new building at 123 Grant Ave. The sculpture can be viewed with a ticket to the New Mexico Museum of Art, available online at nmartmuseum.org/visit.