Georgia O'Keefe at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas -- Another Look

Georgia O'Keeffe, The Flying Backbone, 1944,  Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges - Museum of American Art, Inc., Bentonville, Arkansas

Several of Georgia O'Keeffe's works as well as photographs of her by Alfred Stieglitz can be seen at the Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  

I'm excited because this museum is what I consider driving distance to my home in Colorado.  Seeing this museum has moved much higher on my "bucket list".

The Crystal Bridges looks like an amazing museum.  

Designed by Moshe Sadafie who is known for his national and regional landmarks including Habitat 67, Montreal; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles; the National Gallery of Canada; and Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, Israel.  

Crystal Bridges Museum, Architectural Record. portfolio 2012/01, photo c Timothy Hursley

Sadafie was former Director  Urban Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

From February 21 until June 21, 2015 the Crystal Bridges Museum 

will exhibit  From Van Gogh to Rothko:MASTERWORKS FROM 

THE ALBRIGHT-KNOX ART GALLERY.

This exhibition features masterpieces by some of the most prominent names in art history including Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, and Mark Rothko.

The Crystal Bridges recently showcased its Alfred Stieglitz Collection, co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee./

The Crystal Bridges became a co-owner in 2012 as part of a sale agreement with Fisk that the collection would rotate every two years between Fisk and the Crystal Bridges Museum.

After "The Artists' Eye: Georgia O'Keeffe and the Alfred Stieglitz Collection" closed Feb. 3, 2014 but the museum continues to exhibit pieces from the collection.  (See my earlier blog post  O'Keeffe's Fisk University Donation Will Be at Walmart Heiress's Museum).

Georgia O'Keeffe, Radiator Building-Night, New York Oil on Canvas, 1927 Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges - Museum of American Art, Inc., Bentonville, Arkansas

The collection includes a collection of some of the most important American modernist works by John Marin, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe.

O'Keeffe, who was married to Stieglitz, donated the works to Fisk University after his death in 1946.  

Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1932,  Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges - Museum of American Art, Inc., Bentonville, Arkansas

According to Ellis Widner in a recent article in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville and Arkansas itself are becoming major players in American modern art.

Georgia O'Keeffe, Feather and Brown Leaf, 1935,Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges - Museum of American Art, Inc., Bentonville, Arkansas, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Dwight Primiano.

"It seems inevitable that people will increasingly come to Arkansas to see and study American art," said Ruth Fine, former curator of Modern Prints and Drawings and Special Projects in Modern Art for the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Georgia O'Keeffe, Small Purple Hills, 1934, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges - Museum of American Art, Inc., Bentonville, ArkansasCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas.

In addition, the Crystal Bridges Museum lists two O'Keeffe

paintings that have been recently auctioned as "promised gifts".

Georgia O'Keeffe, Evening Star No II, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, promised gift

Georgia O'Keeffe, Red and Blue  No. 1,  1916, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Dwight Primiano, promised gift

I'm looking forward to seeing these last two at the Crystal Bridges in the future. . .  and future exhibitions by Warhol and Wyeth.