A color photograph of O'Keeffe in New Mexico. She stands at a gate and behind her is a gravel landscape with mountains in the distance. She has her hands in the pocket of a large black coat. We see the side profile of her face and her white gray hair is pulled up at the nape of her neck.

Insight

Georgia O'Keeffe

Hiding in Plain Sight

July 21, 2022

The notion of Georgia O’Keeffe as a loner, an artistic ascetic hiding out in the New Mexico badlands is as central to her mystique as it is untrue. In this conversation with Tim Gihring, host of The Object podcast from the Minneapolis Institute of Art, we discuss the fascinating origins of this legend and all the evidence to the contrary—from celebrity visits to FBI investigations. This conversation will be a fresh look at an enduring myth.

Tim Gihring is the writer, producer, and host of The Object, an award-winning podcast from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Based in Minneapolis, Gihring has been a journalist for more than 25 years, writing for The Associated Press, Minnesota Monthly, and other magazines and newspapers around the world. His research on O’Keeffe was featured in the April 2022 episode of The Object, “Hiding in Plain Sight: The O’Keeffe We Never Knew.”

Featured Image: Richard Pritzlaff. Georgia O’Keeffe, 1980. color photograph, 13 15/16 x 10 15/16. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Gift of The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation. [2006.6.846]

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