The Precisionism of Georgia O’Keeffe

Georgia O’Keeffe - The Radiator Building at Night- New York, 1927, oil on canvas, Carl van Vechten Gallery of Fine Arts, Fisk UniversityWe’ve already presented works by Precisionist artists Charles Demuth and Charles Sheeler on What About Art? Precisionism was an artistic movement that emerged in the United States after World War I and was at its height during the inter-War period. The term itself was first coined in the early 1920s. Influenced strongly by Cubism and Futurism, its main themes included industrialization and the modernization of the American landscape, which were depicted in precise, sharply defined, geometrical forms. The themes originated from the streamlined architecture and machinery of the early 1900s. Precisionist artists considered themselves strictly American and tried to avoid European artistic influences. There is a degree of reverence for the industrial age in the movement, and social commentary was not fundamental to the style. The degree of abstraction in Precisionist works ranged considerably. One keen practitioner of it was Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986)--with her intense clarity well-defined lines. This is particularly evident in her urban works--which are sometimes forgotten given her association with natural subjects and the New Mexico landscape. But Georgia was also very much an urbanite at certain points in her life--and a Precisionist approach was quite suitable for her renderings of life in the city.