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Spring
Spring
Object number1967.31.15

Spring

Datec. 1922
Artist (American, 1887-1986)
CultureAmerican
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 37 1/2 x 32 1/2 x 3 1/8 in. (95.25 x 82.55 x 7.94 cm)
Unframed: 35 1/2 x 30 3/8 in. (90.17 x 77.15 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Arthur Schwab (Edna Bryner, class of 1907)
On View
On view
Period20th c
Classification(s)
SignedNot signed
Catalogue raisonnéNo. 401, p. 217BibliographyMoss, Karen and Sharyn Udall and Michael Zakian. "The Paintings of Georgia O'keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin and Florence Pierce" (London: Merrell Publishers Limited), fig. 31; Nobuyuki, Okabe. "Paris--New York; Modern Paintings in 19th and 20th Century Master Works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College," (Japan: Yamagata Museum of Art, 2008) Cat. no. 33, p. 86; Richard D. Marshall. Georgia O'Keeffe: Nature and Abstraction (Milano: Skira, 2007), repr. p. 57; Mundy, James. The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center: Vassar College The History and Collection (New York: Prestel Publishing, 2007), p. 102 repr.; Lynes, Barbara Buhler. Georgia O’Keeffe: Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999, p. 217; Goethals, Marion. Georgia O'Keeffe Natural Issues 1918-1924. Williams College Museum of Art, 1992, p. 12; Tufts, Eleanor. American Women Artists, 1830-1930. National Museum of Women in Arts, 1987, p. 81; ProvenanceFrom the Artist to Paul Rosenfeld, through Alfred Stieglitz, New York, NY (*presumably, per Sally Mills, Curator, 1983);
Mrs. Arthur Schwab (Edna Bryner), New York, NY, 1924 (through Paul Rosenfeld);
gifted to The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, 1967
Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryNew York, The Anderson Galleries, "Alfred Stieglitz Presents One Hundred Pictures: Oils, Water-colors, Pastels, Drawings, by Georgia O'Keeffe, American," 29 January - 10 February, 1923

Georgia O'Keeffe, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, May 14 - August 25, 1946;

Georgia O'Keeffe Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, October 8-November 29, 1970; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, January 6 - February 7, 1971; San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA, March 15 - April 30, 1971;

Second-Half Century Celebration, Skidmore College's Hathorn Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY, October 12-29, 1972; Gatham Book Store, New York, NY, November 1-30, 1972;

Four MacDowell Medalists: Hopper, O'Keeffe, Calder, and Nevelson, Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH, June 30- July 29, 1973; The Thorne at Keene State College, Keener, NH, August 3 - September 9, 1973;

Pioneers of American Abstraction, Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, NY, October 17 - November 17, 1973;

American Painting from 1900-1934, The Katonah Gallery, Katonah, NY, November 1, 1975 - January 4, 1976;

Nevelson and O'Keeffe: Independents of the Twentieth Century, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn, NY, January 23 – April 10, 1983;

American Women Artists, 1830-1930, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., April 10 – June 14, 1987; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, July 5 – August 30, 1987; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT, September 19 – November 15, 1987; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, December 5, 1987 – January 31, 1988; Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX, February 20 – April 17, 1988;

Georgia O'Keeffe: Natural Issues, 1918-1924, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA, April 11 – July 12, 1992;

Georgia O’Keeffe: Nature and Abstraction, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland, March 6 – May 13, 2007;

Paris–New York: Modern Paintings in 19th- and 20th-Century Masterworks from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, Shimane Art Museum, Japan, March 7 – May 11, 2008; Ishibashi Museum of Art, Japan, May 17 – July 20, 2008; Yamagata Museum of Art, Japan, July 30 – August 31, 2008; Fuchu Art Museum, Japan, September 6 – November 3, 2008; Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum, Japan, November 14 – December 14, 2008;

O’Keeffe and Abstraction, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, September 17, 2009 – January 15, 2010; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., February 1, 2010 – April 30, 2010; Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM, May 15 – September 10, 2010;
DescriptionGeorgia O’Keeffe began exhibiting with Alfred Stieglitz in 1916 at his famous 291 Gallery. After it closed its doors (with an O’Keeffe show) in 1917, the artist exhibited at the Anderson Gallery, where in 1923 a solo exhibition of one hundred paintings was held entitled Alfred Stieglitz Presents One Hundred Pictures: Oils, Water-colors, Pastels, Drawings, by Georgia O’Keeffe, American. Spring was included in this exhibition. The paintings by O’Keeffe from the period 1918–1924, which are among her most evocative studies of nature, were inspired by her travels to Texas, the Southwest, and Maine. Most are, like Spring, presented with the forms directly against the picture plane, the absence of a foreground creating an intimate confrontation with the viewer. The resulting sense of magnification is strengthened by O’Keeffe’s use of vibrant colors.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu
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