Georgia O'Keeffe—Hands and Horse Skull 1931

Alfred Stieglitz made this print of Georgia O'Keeffe's hands and a horse skull, probably in his New York studio. You know, it's like he's trying to grasp something essential about her, using this stark, almost surreal juxtaposition. I can almost feel Stieglitz circling, trying different angles, different light. He's using that cool black and white to strip away the excess, get to the bone, literally and figuratively. The way her hands cradle the skull, it’s tender but also kind of fierce, right? It makes me think about mortality, about how we try to hold onto things, ideas, people. Is it about protecting it, possessing it, or understanding it? It reminds me of other artists who play with bones, like Picasso, with that bull’s skull. It’s this long conversation, a morbid dance across time. It’s like Stieglitz is saying something about art, life, death, and O'Keeffe all at once. It's not a statement, it's more like a question, a feeling.