In Letters and Portraits: The Georgia O’Keeffe x Alfred Stieglitz Collaboration
In 1916, the artist Georgia O’Keeffe was only 28-years-old when she met Alfred Stieglitz at his influential Gallery 291 in New York. It was pretty much love at first sight. At the time, the much older and then married Stieglitz, who at the age of 52 was also a renowned photographer, took a liking to the younger O’Keeffe. Thus marked the beginning of the couple’s 30-year relationship – including a lengthy letter writing correspondence that helped ignite their passionate affair; and ultimately led to their 1924 marriage.
In an early letter from the road in Canyon, Texas, O’Keeffe wrote to Stieglitz: "I'm getting to like you so tremendously that it sometimes scares me... Having told you so much of me — more than anyone else I know — could anything else follow but that I should want you — " A year later in a summer (1917) letter, Stieglitz wrote: “How I wanted to photograph you — the hands — the mouth — & eyes — & the enveloped in black body — the touch of white — & the throat — but I didn’t want to break into your time — “
Stieglitz made good on his desire. From 1917 to 1937, he captured his new muse through intimate detail in photos – including isolated body parts such as her hands, torso and breasts. In fact, O’Keeffe officially became the subject of his “multi part portrait” spanning over three hundred photographs. Showcasing O’Keeffe’s distinct features and brazen style, not to mention her dark garb and iconic hair (both wild and swept back in a bun), we see various closely framed works of her hands clutching a horse skull alongside black-and-white portraits taken at Stiegltiz’s country home at Lake George, New York.
Even as O'Keeffe made her inaugural summer pilgrimage to her beloved New Mexico in 1929, and was alone, she kept her correspondence alive by writing to her husband: “I have not wanted to be anything but kind to you — but there is nothing to be kind to you if I cannot be me — And me is something that reaches very far out into the world and all around — and kisses you — a very warm — cool — loving — kiss.” Later of course, O’Keeffe permanently moved to Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu, but kept penning letters up until Steiglitz’s death in 1946. Of course, her appreciation of photography was fueled by their partnership, and in 1922, she wrote that Steiglitz’s work “makes me forget that it is a photograph, and creates a music that is more than music.”
FURTHER READING
My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. A collection of 650 letters (out of the 5,000 plus spanning their long courtship) looks at the daily lives of these two visionaries.
Georgia O’Keeffe: A Portrait: Alfred Stieglitz’s book includes an intimate selection of 79 photographs taken over a 30 year period.
