FLUIDITY OF COLOR IN GEORGIA O’KEEFFE
Gallery assistant Deja Belardo reflects on a favorite painter represented in the Museum’s collection.
I have a print of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Abstraction from 1926 up on a wall in my home studio. My art mentor, Phyllis Biddle, was the first person to introduce me to O’Keeffe. Being from a small island in the Virgin Islands, I immediately understood this artist’s connection to nature and the inherent beauty of objects we often take for granted. I especially appreciate her work these days, as one of the greatest pleasures I have is seeing a new bird fly by my window or a tree that has blossomed seemingly overnight.
When I first visited the Whitney, a few months after moving to New York City from the Virgin Islands, a friend of mine who had worked at the Museum for several years took me straight to a Georgia O’Keeffe painting that was on view (Music, Pink and Blue No. 2). Just about two months later, I began working at the Whitney as a gallery assistant.
When the Museum reopens, I’m excited to see the work of my favorite painter again in the galleries. The fluidity of O’Keeffe’s colors and how she translates other senses and feelings into a visual language that’s all her own is reminiscent of my own identity.
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