Georgia O’Keeffe. Visions of Hawai

In 1939, Georgia O´Keeffe, who at 51 was among the most famous artists in the United States, accepted a commission from the Hawaiian Pineapple Company to produce two paintings for advertising campaigns. Her nine-week trip to Hawai´i resulted in more than 20 paintings, which reveal that O´Keeffe-most commonly associated with the stark deserts of New Mexico- was profoundly inspired by what she saw and experienced on the lush, tropical Hawaiian Islands. The exhibition Georgia O´Keeffe: Visions of Hawai´i, and this accompanying volume, explores this little-known chapter in the artist´s career. Glowing with color and feeling, these paintings demonstrate O´Keeffe´s unique ability to make any place she happened to be in her own, and this groundbreaking volume offers a unique perspective by foregrounding the ecological complexity of the Hawaiian Islands-one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth- that is hidden behind O´Keeffe´s depictions.