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Georgia O'Keeffe Train at Night in the Desert 1916

  • Not on view

In a November 1916 letter, O’Keeffe described watching an early morning train approach through the Texas landscape, an experience she captured in this trio of works. “A train was coming way off—just a light with a trail of smoke—white—I walked toward it—The sun and the train got to me at the same time—It’s great to see that terrifically alive black thing coming at you in the big frosty stillness—and such wonderful smoke.” In charcoal she conveyed the smoke by lifting away the sooty medium in plume-like swipes. In watercolor she described the white trail by leaving blank paper within a colorful ground.

Gallery label from Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time, April 09, 2023–August 12, 2023
Medium
Watercolor and pencil on paper
Dimensions
11 7/8 x 8 7/8" (30.3 x 22.5 cm)
Credit
Acquired with matching funds from the Committee on Drawings and the National Endowment for the Arts
Object number
113.1979
Copyright
© 2024 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Department
Drawings and Prints

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