A watercolor painting of concentric arches in shades of blue.

Light Coming on the Plains No. I

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)

Date

1917
Medium

Watercolor on newsprint paper
Dimensions

11 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.
Mount: 12 x 9 1/8 in.
Inscriptions

Recto:
[removed] titled, dated, and inscribed: Light Coming on the Plains No. I \ 1917 \ Water Color on Paper
inscribed: 12 x 9 Baker 24-694
Verso:
[removed] printed white label: AMON CARTER MUSEUM \ EXHIBIT DATE 1917 [typewritten] \ TITLE LIGHT COMING ON THE PLAINS I [typewritten] \ ARTIST Georgia O'Keeffe [typewritten] \ MEDIUM watercolor [typewritten] \ DIM. 11 7/8 x 8 7/8" [typewritten] \ CREDIT Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas [typewritten] \ 1966.30 [in graphite] \ 3501 CAMP BOWIE BOULEVARD MAIL ADDRESS BOX 2365 FORT WORTH TEXAS 76101
[removed] printed white label: [insignia for University of Texas at Austin] The Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery \ The University of Texas at Austin \ Exhibition: IMAGES OF TEXAS [typewritten] [dotted underline] \ [dotted underline] \ Dates: FEB. 25-APRIL 10, 1983 [typewritten] [dotted underline] \ Catalogue Number: 68 [typewritten] [dotted underline] \ 30.66 [in graphite]
[removed] printed white label: [torn]ST GEORGIA O'KEEFFE [typewritten] NO. 39 [typewritten] [underlined] \ TITLE LIGHT COMING ON THE PLAINS I [typewritten] DATE 1917 [typewritten] [underlined] \ MEDIUM WATERCOLOR [typewritten] SIZE 9x12 [typewritten] S.P. NFS [typewritten] [scribble in graphite across label] \ [double line] \ THE DOWNTOWN GALLERY • 32 E. 51st St., New York \ [double line] \ Jun 24 1963 [stamped in black ink] 1966.30 [in graphite]
[removed] printed white label: AMARILLO ART CENTER \ EXHIBIT Between the Wars [ typewritten] NO. 29 [typewritten] [underlined] \ ARTIST Georgia O'Keeffe [typewritten] [underlined] \ TITLE Light Coming on the Plamins[sic], I [typewritten] \ watercolor 1917 [typewritten] \ MEDIA [underline] DATE [underline] \ AMARILLO, TEXAS \ 30.66 [in graphite]
[removed] printed label with red border: #39 [in graphite] OK [in ink] NFS [in ink] No I [in ink] \ Georgia O'Keeffe \ Abiquiu, N. M. \ Title: Light Coming on the Plains [in ink] \ Year: 1917 [in ink] \ Medium: Water Color on Paper [in ink] \ Base: \ Photograph # Baker 24-694 [in ink] \ 1966.30 [in graphite]
[removed] printed label: GEORGIA O'KEEFFE EXHIBITION \ MAY 28 to JULY 3, 1966 \ THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON \ 1966.30 [in graphite]
[removed] printed label: AMON CARTER MUSEUM \ PAINTINGS BY [typewritten] \ EXHIBIT GEORGIA O'KEEFFE [typewritten] DATE March, 1966 [typewritten] \ TITLE LIGHT COMING ON THE PLAINS NO. I[I underlined and inscribed over in ink] [typewritten] \ 1917 [typewritten] \ ARTIST Georgia O'Keeffe [typewritten] \ MEDIUM Watercolor [typewritten] \ Dim. 12" x 9" [typewritten] \ CREDIT Georgia O'Keeffe [crossed out in ink] Amon Carter Museum [in ink] \ BOX NO. Fort Worth, Texas [in ink] \ 1966.30 [in graphite]
\ 3501 CAMP BOWIE BOULEVARD MAIL A[torn] BOX 2365 FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76101
[removed] printed white label: LENDER Amon Carter Museum of Western Art [typewritten] \ DMFA EXHIBITION THE LOAN COLLECTION FOR THE VICE [typewritten] \ PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE, March 1 '78 - March 31, '79 [typewritten] \ ARTIST Georgia O'Keeffe [typewritten] \ TITLE Light Coming on the Plains, I [typewritten and underlined] \ DATE 1917 [typewritten] RECEIPT [struck through] No. 20 [typewritten] BOX [struck through] CRATE XIV [typewritten] \ dallas museum of fine arts - fair park - dallas, texas \ W-103 \ 1966.30 [in graphite]
Credit Line

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
Accession Number

1966.30
Copyright

© Amon Carter Museum of American Art

While teaching at West Texas State Normal College in Canyon, Texas, during the summer of 1917, O’Keeffe created these abstract impressions of the sun rising over the wide-open Texas plains. The works reflect her bold individuality at a time when women artists struggled to attain recognition, considered unequal to their male counterparts. O’Keeffe stayed up all night to experience dawn when the effects of light were the most transitory and ephemeral. In these watercolors, she spontaneously layered deep ultramarine pigment on paper, allowing the fluidity of the medium to form the final design.

Location: Off view

See more by Georgia O'Keeffe

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