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- Georgia O’Keeffe in the Patio at Ghost Ranch, 1977
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- Pedernal, Ghost Ranch, 1977
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- Georgia O’Keeffe and Juan Hamilton strolling in the fields at Ghost Ranch, 1977
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- Georgia O’Keeffe briskly walking in the field at Ghost Ranch, 1977
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- O’Keeffe at Ghost Ranch, Pedernal in Background, 1977
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- Georgia O’Keeffe at Ghost Ranch, 1977
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- Candelaria Lopez and Estiben Suazo, 1977
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- Georgia O’Keeffe at Ghost Ranch, 1977
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- Georgia O’Keeffe Laughing, 1977
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- Georgia O’Keeffe and Juan Hamilton at Ghost Ranch,1977
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- Adobe Wall of the Abiquiú House, 1977
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- Georgia O’Keeffe in the Portal of the Patio at Ghost Ranch, 1977
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- Jingo, 1977
Georgia O’Keeffe, A Life Well Lived: Photographs by Malcolm Varon
In the summer of 1977, Malcom Varon (O’Keeffe’s preferred art photographer) was at Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiú, photographing paintings with his assistant, when a journalist from ARTnews arrived to interview O’Keeffe for a piece on “Georgia O’Keeffe at 90.” Upon arrival the journalist discovered that there were no recent photographs of O’Keeffe available to illustrate it. Though he was not a portrait photographer by profession, O’Keeffe asked Varon to make photographs for this article. Varon shot more than 70 color images capturing not only portraits of the artist, but also of her life in Northern New Mexico. The results—some of the few color photographs of the artist—capture not only O’Keeffe’s life at this time, but the lives of those who cared for her homes in northern New Mexico. The magazine published five of the photographs, including the cover.
This exhibition brings together 47 of Varon’s unpublished images, capturing O’Keeffe during a far less documented period of her life, in full color, relaxed in the familiar home and landscape she loved so much. The images feature never-before-printed photographs taken by Varon that summer, months before O’Keeffe’s 90th birthday. Though Varon was well aware of O’Keeffe’s iconic status when he set to photograph the artist, what he captured was something more: an unusually personal and intimate view of O’Keeffe and those closest to her.
Malcolm Varon (b. 1932) began photographing the work of painters in New York City in the 1960s, at a time when color photography was on the rise. He mastered the new medium and excelled at capturing the “feeling” of other artists’ work with his camera. In 1969 Georgia O’Keeffe’s agent hired Varon to photograph some of O’Keeffe’s work, and thereafter he became the only art photographer she would trust.
Watch this informative discussion by curators Ariel Plotek and Barbara Buhler Lynes about the project:
Georgia O’Keeffe, A Life Well Lived: Photographs by Malcolm Varon is co-curated by Georgia O’Keeffe scholar, Barbara Buhler Lynes and includes a hardcover companion publication. This book is the first collection of photographs to portray O’Keeffe and her surroundings in color. Varon includes an insightful reflection on his experiences with O’Keeffe in which he brings the photographs to life in an intimate way.
