Red Hills with the Pedernal
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
The Pedernal is a flat-topped mountain that commands the Ghost Ranch landscape and is visible for miles in every direction. O’Keeffe was inspired by its unusual topography and regal presence. It became for her what Mount Fuji was for Hokusai or Mont Sainte-Victoire for Paul Cézanne—a compelling natural feature to be explored again and again in different compositions. Late in life, she liked to tell interviewers that she thought if she painted the Pedernal often enough, God would give it to her.
Caption
Georgia O'Keeffe American, 1887–1986. Red Hills with the Pedernal, 1936. Pastel on paper mounted to wood-pulp board, 21 1/2 x 27 1/4 in. (54.6 x 69.2 cm) frame: 28 3/8 × 22 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (72.1 × 56.5 × 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Georgia O'Keeffe, 87.136.4. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 87.136.4_PS6.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Red Hills with the Pedernal
Date
1936
Medium
Pastel on paper mounted to wood-pulp board
Classification
Dimensions
21 1/2 x 27 1/4 in. (54.6 x 69.2 cm) frame: 28 3/8 × 22 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (72.1 × 56.5 × 6.4 cm)
Signatures
Unsigned
Credit Line
Bequest of Georgia O'Keeffe
Accession Number
87.136.4
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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Frequent Art Questions
Was this painting typical of O'Keeffe's work?
This painting is very typical of O'Keeffe's New Mexico paintings. She was so inspired by the landscape and the work she did there always has a sense of place.This one, specifically, exemplifies her use of color. She said of New Mexico: "All the earth colors of the painter's palette are out there in the many miles of badlands."Did she have a method of working such as doing preliminary drawings then going into the studio to paint the image?
Yes, she did. O'Keeffe would travel to the sites, sometimes camping there overnight, and made sketches and sometimes took photographs. She would often return to the same places and paint them time and again.
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