Georgia O'Keeffe
Waterfall I
1952
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Georgia O'Keeffe
Waterfall I
1952
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 32 x 18 in. (81.3 x 45.7 cm) Framed: 32 3/8 x 18 3/8 in. (82.2 x 46.7 cm)
Credit Line
Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection
Object Number
1959.17
This painting’s narrow format emphasizes what could be the more than 2,400-foot vertical drop of Yosemite Falls in California. Extended onto the frame itself, the painted waterfall here transcends the boundary of the canvas, enhancing the dramatic sense of verticality. Georgia O’Keeffe made this painting during her trip to Yosemite National Park in June 1952.
By the time of O’Keeffe’s visit, Yosemite had been a national park for more than 60 years. Paintings and photographs by American artists, such as this work, helped spread the myth of the landscape as “untouched” by human presence, which effectively erased the legacies of former Native residents who had lived in
the region for thousands of years.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1959; Mr. E.J. Gallagher, Baltimore by purchase; from The Downtown Gallery, New York
The Downtown Gallery, New York, Late Winter/Early Spring, 1955
The Baltimore Museum of Art, “25 Years of Growth,” May 29 – Summer, 1955
Goucher College, “Arts Festival,” April – May 1956
The Baltimore Museum of Art, “Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection,” May 11 – June 22, 1969
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD, “Gallagher Collection.” January 4 – 11, 1970
The Baltimore Museum of Art, “Women Artists,” April 18 – June 18, 1972
"Earth and SKy: Paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe," Shelburne Museum, 6/24/06 - 0/3/06
Virginia Anderson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "By Their Creative Force: American Women Modernists," October 6, 2019 — July 5, 2020
Marta Ruiz del Árbol, “Georgia O’Keeffe,” Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, April 20, 2021–August 8, 2021 and Centre Pompidou, September 8, 2021 –December 6, 2021
San Diego Museum of Art, "Moore and O'Keefe: Bones and Stones to Oil and Bronze". San Diego Museum of Art May 12, 2023 - August 27, 2023.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, “25 Years of Growth,” May 29 – Summer, 1955
Goucher College, “Arts Festival,” April – May 1956
The Baltimore Museum of Art, “Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection,” May 11 – June 22, 1969
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD, “Gallagher Collection.” January 4 – 11, 1970
The Baltimore Museum of Art, “Women Artists,” April 18 – June 18, 1972
"Earth and SKy: Paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe," Shelburne Museum, 6/24/06 - 0/3/06
Virginia Anderson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "By Their Creative Force: American Women Modernists," October 6, 2019 — July 5, 2020
Marta Ruiz del Árbol, “Georgia O’Keeffe,” Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, April 20, 2021–August 8, 2021 and Centre Pompidou, September 8, 2021 –December 6, 2021
San Diego Museum of Art, "Moore and O'Keefe: Bones and Stones to Oil and Bronze". San Diego Museum of Art May 12, 2023 - August 27, 2023.
BMA News, April 1956, p.7, listed p. 10, ill. P.9
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection. [Baltimore, MD]: Baltimore Museum of Art, [1964], page 31
“Object of the Week,” Brown Section, Sunday Sun, 8/2/59, ill.
Leeds, Valerie Ann. "Simple Beauty: Paintings by Georiga O'Keefe." American Art Review, Vol XVIII, Number 4, July -August 2006, 136, ill.
Ruiz del Árbol, Marta. "Georgia O'Keeffe." Madrid: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2021. ill. p, 221
Didier Ottinger. Georgia O’Keeffe. Paris: Centre Pompidou, 2021, page 189.
San Diego Museum of Art, "Moore and O'Keefe: Bones and Stones to Oil and Bronze". San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, 12 May 2023- 27 August 2023.
Feldman, Anita (editor). "O'Keeffe and Moore." San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art, 2023. ill., p. 161.
