Georgia O'Keeffe
Precisionism
a Painting Style
Precisionism:
Every artist has a particular way or style of
painting and expressing themselves. In turn,
some artists develop new techniques or what
are called "movements". Each artist is therefore
associated with one or more specific movements
to categorize their work. Picasso was a Cubist,
Van Gogh was a Post-Impressionist, and Salvador
Dali was a Surrealist.
Georgia O'Keeffe's urban works are most closely associated with Precisionism which is also known as Cubist Realism. Essentially, it is a combination of cubism and realism. This American art movement began in 1920's and lasted until the end of the Second World War.
What is Precisionism? It is a style of painting in which an object is depicted realistically with an emphasis on the geometrical form of the object. Some of the important American artists involved with this movement or style, other than Georgia O'Keeffe, are Charles DeMuth, Preston Dickinson, Louis Lozowick, and Charles Sheeler. One can get a pretty good idea of what exactly was involved with this type of painting just from the name. The choice of subject and style was accomplished with careful precision.
The ideas for this style of painting evolved from a group of artists in Italy whose art was known as Futurism. This is because is showed appreciation for machines and the things that machines could make. The Futurists believed that technology would be a great part of the 20th century, whether it was invention or construction of machines. This is the reason why the subjects they chose often were massive machinery or sky scrapers and the like. Some of the more prominent Futurist artists were Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carra, Umberto Boccioni, and Gino Severini. The style of Precisionism soon gave way to Abstraction towards the middle of the 1940's.
Mordernism:
O'Keeffe's later paintings have been
categorized as Modern. This refers to a period
of art from the 1860's all the way through to
the 1970's when artists began to step back from
traditional art and be different and unorthodox.
Modern art is characterized by changing attitudes
about art, an interest in contemporary events
as subjects, personal artistic expression, and
freedom from realism.
To view images of Georgia O'Keeffe's urban Precisionism inspired paintings, visit our online art gallery.
Painting Styles:
Every painter has a certain style of
painting, whether it's intentional to paint
abstract or unintentional to paint as a modernist.
Here you can learn about Precisionism,
which is essentially a combination of cubism
and realism. The urban works by O'Keeffe are
mostly associated with this type of painting
style. Some of O'Keeffe's later paintings are
looked at as modernist paintings. If these paintings
inspire you, you can also visit the "Color
Your Own" page where you will find two pictures
of O'Keeffe's paintings that you can print and
color yourself.