“The evening star would be high in the sunset sky when it was still broad daylight,” O’Keeffe recalled of her time in Texas. “That evening star fascinated me.” In this sequence of watercolors, she merges subject, material, and technique to trace the progression of a sunset: from an allover expanse of wet-on-wet color to distinct bands of pigment separated by passages of paper to fuzzy dissolution. The last iteration was made on a different paper from the others—a laid, long-fibered stock that encourages the diffused soaking and staining appropriate for conveying the culmination of this natural spectacle.

Gallery label from

Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time, April 09, 2023–August 12, 2023

Medium Watercolor on paper mounted on board
Dimensions 8 7/8 × 11 7/8" (22.5 × 30.2 cm)
Credit Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. Straus Fund
Object number 91.1958
Department Drawings and Prints

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Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe

American, 1887–1986 13 works online

In 1959, the artist Georgia O’Keeffe boarded an airplane in the United States and proceeded to travel for several months.

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