Musée Pompidou Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition October 2021

Said, Mathias, Matthieu, Bryan

From Pontoise, we took the train to Paris Saint Lazare. Then we took the metro to Châtelet Les Halles. It took an hour to get there, but it was completely worth it. The exhibition was wonderful and super interesting ! After that, we walked to the closest park, which was 20 minutes away from the Pompidou Centre, where we had a picnic !
During the exhibition we explored the Pompidou Centre and some Parisian streets that had beautiful restaurants. From the top of the Pompidou Centre, we had an incredible view of Paris with its beautiful monuments.
Then, we visited the O’Keeffe exhibition (in the Pompidou Centrel). During the guided tour, the guide showed us multiple paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe. The artist was born on the 15th of November in 1887 in Wisconsin and she died on the 6th of March 1986 in Santa Fe. O’Keefe was considered as one of the iconic modern painters of the 20th century. In addition, we also discovered the people that inspired her, such as Paul Cezanne. O’Keefe created many styles of paintings, including the following art styles : modern, abstract, realistic, surrealistic, some of her pieces were similar to Japanese art, and etc…
Our favourite painting was White flower N°1 painted in 1932, because it is a very luminous and radiant piece, and the whiteness reminds us of Cezanne. Furthermore, it seems to be inspired by various genres : it is realistic (it represents a real flower), it is inspired by “art nouveau” (spirals) and it’s shapes and colours seem reminiscent of abstract art.

Cali, Syrine, Yasmine, Soumaia :

The painting we chose is titled From the Lake n.1, and it was created in 1924. Georgia O’Keeffe used oil paints to make this abstract painting. This piece is composed of gradations of dark colours that form abstract shapes.
Even though the landscape evokes stormy weather, to us, the work doesn’t seem to express sadness. On the contrary, we think that it inspires a feeling of liveliness with its brightness. We like that her abstract works draw inspiration from natural elements, which is different from other abstract works we have seen in the past.
We love this painting for its colours and different shapes. We would love to hang it on our walls if we had the chance to grab a copy.

Ilana Elora Daphnée Nina 

Nina was surprised by this piece because she thought there were little lights in the frames, but it was just the painting. Nina’s dream is to drink a cup of tea, in her conservatory, in front of this painting on a foggy day. The way the light reflects off the painting reminds her of stained glass. It also reminds us of the book Lord of the Flies, especially of the character Jack, because the shapes seem to be very fluid and erratic, and the colours are dark and deep. 

Imène , Faten, Océane, Justine 

The painting From the Lake n°1 was painted by Georgia O’Keefe in 1924. She depicted two similar landscapes with very different shades and colours. This one is the dark one, painted with different shades of dark colours such as green, blue and grey. Perhaps when she painted it she was feeling upset and angry, because the choices of the colors, shades and shapes are surprisingly specific (cold colours, sharp shapes…).
If we juxtapose the first painting with Red, yellow and black streak published in 1924, it is not immediately clear that it depicts the same place. However, it is ! The difference is the point of view and the feelings that O’Keefe had when she painted. Maybe O’Keefe felt happy and was in love when she painted it. The choices of the colours and shapes are very well chosen (cloud shapes, bright and warm colours…).

Vidjay, Lewis, Imane, Tiana

This painting was done in 1916. It is a watercolour painting. Its dimensions are 87/8 x 12 inches. Georgia O’Keeffe got a job as an art teacher at West Texas State Normal College (now West Texas A&M) in 1916. After, she moved in a town called Canyon. She painted Sunrise and Little Cloud no II while she was living in Texas. We chose this piece of art because it gives us a joyful feeling, and because we liked the contrast between the warm and cool colours If we had this painting, we would display it in our bedroom to match the sunrise and the sky’s colours at dawn.

Alexia, Eva, Edwina, Clémence

We’ve chosen the painting Black Abstraction by Georgia O’Keeffe which was completed in 1927. The dimensions of the painting are 76,2 cm X 102,2 cm. It is an oil painting on canvas. The painting represents Georgia O’Keeffe’s feelings during and after her surgery that took place during the same year. Compared to her usual paintings, her palette is pretty plain and oriented towards dark colours. This is one of her most abstract pieces. The white point represents the light of hope in the middle of the darkness before she fainted while the hospital staff was taking her to surgery.

If we had this painting, we would put it in a glass corridor, it would emphasise the darker colours in the daylight, and the lighter, white colours would catch your eye in the moonlight.

Victorien, Maxence, Janel, Eve

Pelvis IV is a canvas in oil paint made in 1944. It depicts an extreme close-up view of the socket of a pelvic bone. The whiteness of the bone is filling the three corners of the frame. We can also perceive a bit of another hole in the right-hand bottom corner. Through the main hole opening, we can see a blue sky with a pale and transparent moon (that is almost full) in the upper left corner. A touch of blue is also in the lower right corner where the bone curves in. We chose this painting because it’s very relaxing and beautiful. 

It’s very abstract. We would put it on the ceiling of our bedrooms since we think it has a rather relaxing effect. We think it would help us fall asleep !