Georgia O'Keeffe. Black Cross with Stars and Blue, 1929. Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Museum Purchase. © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. [2021.4.1]
While staying in Taos at the guesthouse of arts patron Mabel Dodge Luhan, O’Keeffe observed a nearby cross and morada—a meeting house used by a Catholic lay brotherhood known as the Penitentes. Founded in the 1800s, the Penitentes emerged to fill the void left by the withdrawal from New Mexico of the Franciscan Order, in 1790. Struck by the region’s distinctive religious imagery and material culture, O’Keeffe expressed the visual power of Penitente crosses using her distinctive modernist vocabulary. This involved distilling and magnifying the forms and colors of the wooden cross and Taos mountain, as well as manipulating the relationship between them. O’Keeffe explained, “I painted the cross against the mountain though I never saw it that way.”
Quality
Our Custom Prints store is the exclusive source for reproductions authorized and available for purchase directly from the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Hand-made in the USA using gallery-quality materials, we create prints as true to the original work as possible, using strict color management protocols and state-of-the-art printing technology.Selection
Many of the works offered through this store are exclusive and not available anywhere else. We are continually adding new artworks to our offering, so be sure to check back regularly as you build your own gallery.Customization
You have found the work that speaks to you. Now what? Using our innovative custom framing tool you can preview exactly what your finished and framed art will look like. We offer many different moulding styles so there is sure to be a match for any type of decor.
