New York, Night Georgia O'Keefe

In the midst of a mechanical revolution, many artists took the side so to speak against the modernization of cities. As we saw in Chicago, architects and artists had to even de-modernize their works in order to be more appealing to the public, and feel less protruding.

On the other side of this, though exist the works of Georgia O’Keefe. O’Keefe’s works historically consisted of simple, true to their nature depictions. She came from the SouthWestern United States to live in New York City and up until then, had painted many scenes from nature, like flowers and the New Mexico desert. As an outsider, it would have been easy for O’Keefe to take a defensive view of what was being revolutionized in New York City. However, O’Keefe instead assumed a more stoic stance regarding the changing times in the modern city. To O’Keefe, the city was another part of human evolution and nature. So as a result in her work, she painted the city as just that. 

Although her depictions do not narrate a certain feeling for or against the city, as someone who has spent a large amount of time in New York, I appreciate the consideration that she does give to it. By doing so, we now have paintings from that era that are peaceful, while simultaneously strikingly beautiful and politically neutral.