Calla Lily (Lily – Yellow No. 2), 1927
Oil on canvas
Georgia O’Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Imported to America in the mid-nineteenth century, the calla lily flower gained popularity amongst artists for its sleek, curvilinear form. Georgia O’Keeffe produced her first calla lily painting in 1923. An example of the artist’s radical approach to still life, Calla Lily (Lily — Yellow No. 2), from 1927, has been enlarged so that it fills the rectangular canvas. For O’Keeffe, the calla lily was a subject that accommodated subtle variations in light, shadow, and color gradations. For many critics, it became a Freudian symbol of O’Keeffe’s female gender, an association that she repeatedly rejected.
Westheimer Family Collection, 2005
Visual Description: This is a painting of a calla lily emerging from a large, dark green leaf. The stem is a vivid, bright green and the flower itself is a light yellow. The calla lily bends towards the right and the leaf has an undulating shape as it almost envelops the flower. The lily and its leaf are set against a light gray background.
