Fishhook From Hawaii - No. I 1939

Georgia O’Keeffe made this painting of a fishhook in Hawaii, with oils likely on canvas. The colors are so soft, like a faded memory of a perfect vacation. It's not about heavy brushstrokes here, but about building up these delicate, almost translucent layers of paint. You can feel the smoothness of the surface, like running your hand over porcelain. Look at that circle, the fishing line, framing what could be the horizon. It's like O'Keeffe's giving us a peep show into a dream. The colors inside the circle are different from the outside, almost like the world we imagine is better than what actually surrounds us. O'Keeffe's known for her flowers, but even here, with this odd object, she’s playing with how we see, how we feel. It puts me in mind of Charles Demuth's Precisionism, but with more heart, more space to wander.