Chama River c. 1937 / Georgia O’Keefe
For my final blog this month, I have chosen Georgia O’Keefe’s 1937 painting, “Chama River, Ghost Ranch.” There are no human figures in this work, but there is plenty of shape!
O’Keefe reduces the landscape to a series of contours and relatively flat colored masses with few variations or shading. The wide sweep of the river in the foreground draws the viewer’s eye up the canvas, where grassy ridges and red rock gullies descend in gentle curves to the river.
O’Keefe’s use of shape, contour, and flat masses creates a great sense of movement. She captures something quintessential about the landscape of northern New Mexico, using only the two weapons of the artist – color and form.