Insight

Alfred Stieglitz

Georgia O’Keeffe, East River, 1932

May 19, 2020

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

For a decade following Georgia O’Keeffe’s move to New York City in 1918, she adapted her life to Alfred Stieglitz’s[1] pattern of living in the city during winter and spring and retreating to his family compound at Lake George, in upstate New York, during the summer and fall of each year.

During the 1920s and 1930s, they lived in several apartments in New York City, including the Shelton Hotel[2], where they were both inspired by the skyline visible from their home. Like many photographers and painters at the time, they viewed skyscrapers as an essentially American symbol of modernity. The twenties was a particularly productive decade for O’Keeffe, as she alternated between images of the city skyline and studies of nature at Lake George.

Hear Ariel Plotek, the O’Keeffe Museum’s Curator of Fine Art discuss Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1932 charcoal drawing of the East River in New York.

For a closer look

Check out East River, 1932 on Collections Online.

This work illustrates the industrial landscape surrounding the East River. The river, on which a boat is visible, bisects the scene horizontally. In the foreground, several buildings line the various streets that lead to the river bank. On the opposite side of the river, smokestacks rise above factories.
Georgia O’Keeffe. East River, 1932. Charcoal on paper, 18 3/8 x 24 inches. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Gift of The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. [2006.5.138]

[1] Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was married to Georgia O’Keeffe.

[2] The Shelton Towers Hotel (1864-1946) was a hotel in midtown Manhatten built in 1924.

Featured image: Alfred Stieglitz. Georgia O’Keeffe, 1920, Gelatin silver print, 24 x 18 cm. [Detail]

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