About this artwork
Georgia O’Keeffe collected this cow’s skull in New Mexico during the summer of 1930, when a drought had devasted the Southwest, and many animal skeletons could be found in the desert. She was captivated by the stark elegance of the bones and shipped some back to New York so she could paint them the following year. She noted, “To me they are as beautiful as anything I know… . The bones seem to cut sharply to the center of something that is keenly alive on the desert.” O’Keeffe’s inclusion of the calico fabric roses—which were used to decorate graves in New Mexico—further evokes questions of life, death, and mortality.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 265
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artist
- Georgia O'Keeffe
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Title
- Cow's Skull with Calico Roses
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Place
- United States (Object made in)
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Date
- Made 1931
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Medium
- Oil on canvas
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Dimensions
- 91.4 × 61 cm (36 × 24 in.)
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Credit Line
- Alfred Stieglitz Collection, gift of Georgia O'Keeffe
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Reference Number
- 1947.712
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Copyright
- © The Art Institute of Chicago
Extended information about this artwork
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