The Beyond

Crystal Bridges pairs Georgia O’keeffe and contemporary artists

Georgia O’keeffe’s iconic florals, colorful abstractions and desert landscapes have captured the imagination of viewers and artists for decades. In The Beyond: Georgia O’keeffe and Contemporary Art, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, arkansas, showcases paintings and sculptures by O’keeffe alongside works by contemporary artists who embody similar themes. Lauren Haynes, Crystal Bridges’ curator of contemporary art, comments, “the pairing of historic and current works allows for a fresh look at O’keeffe and demonstrates the continuing power of O’keeffe’s work as a touchstone for contemporary art.” The exhibition features 35 works from O’keeffe, spanning her career. The works are drawn from the Crystal Bridges’ own collection as well as borrowed from other institutions and include some of her most famous pieces, including Jimson Weed/white Flower No. 1, along with lesser-known images like The Beyond, painted in

1972 as one of the last works O’keeffe finished unassisted as her eyesight began to fail.

To find the artists showcased alongside O’keeffe, Haynes and cocurator Chad Alligood visited studios and conducted Skype interviews, eventually choosing 20 contemporary artists whose works reflect O’keeffe’s frequent themes.

“We really wanted interesting and engaging work that thought about floral scenes, landscapes, abstractions, the body, and wanted things that felt innovative in relation to those themes,” Haynes says.“this is the first time many of these artists have exhibited at this museum, so we’re hoping that visitors can see something knew, and walk away with knowledge they didn’t have.”

Contemporary artists represented in the exhibition include Anna Valdez, Sharona Eliassaf, Kim Keever, Loie Hollowell and others.valdez’s Deer Skull with Blue Vase takes one of O’keeffe’s frequent subjects and poses it as a still life among porcelain and a vase of purpleflowers.eliassaf’s Stars to Dust, Dust to Stars portrays a multi-colored silhouette of a city skyline, reminiscent of O’keeffe’s 1927 oil Radiator Building—night, New York.

The Beyond remains on view at Crystal Bridges through September 3, and will then travel to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh and the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut.

Georgia O’keeffe (1887-1986), Radiator Building—night, New York, 1927. Oil on canvas, 48 x 30 in. Alfred Stieglitz Collection, co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.

Top: Georgia O’keeffe (1887-1986), Jimson Weed/ White Flower No. 1, 1932. Oil on canvas, 48 x 40 in. Courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.Right: Anna Valdez, Deer Skull with Blue Vase, 2017. Oil on canvas, 42 x 40 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco; Photo: Hashimoto Contemporary.