Lake George Barns 1926

Editor: This is Georgia O’Keeffe’s "Lake George Barns," painted in 1926. It's an oil painting, and it feels almost…stark. The colors are so muted, the shapes so simplified. What strikes you when you look at this piece? Curator: Well, given O'Keeffe’s reputation for intensely personal, often sensual readings of natural forms, it's interesting to see her engage with something so seemingly devoid of emotion, wouldn't you agree? Consider the shift: her early explorations of urban modernity at the beginning of the century focused heavily on New York City’s architectural feats of skyscrapers, almost celebrating urban advancement, but later she starts taking interest in more rural landscape like in "Lake George Barns"… it's quite subtle actually, you see. Editor: I can see the move toward something a little quieter, maybe? What makes this feel 'Modernist'? Curator: Modernism is about more than just a style; it's a break with tradition, questioning established norms. Here, O'Keeffe isn't painting barns as picturesque rural scenes. Instead, they become these simplified geometric masses. She’s looking at their forms, their placement in the landscape, and almost denying them their 'barn-ness' as you could experience in classic landscapes... Editor: So, the painting is less about the barns themselves and more about how O’Keeffe *sees* them in their cultural setting? Curator: Precisely! She isolates these structures, and flattens the perspective… she is taking a visual idea about rural life and turning it on its head by defamiliarizing our ideas of it. This also contributes to O'Keefe as this individual modern visionist in art history and culture that continues to shape our modern ideas today, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: I see what you mean, defamiliarization…like making something familiar feel new. Thanks! Curator: Indeed, defamiliarization! Something to keep in mind in Modern Art History.